Secrets Witheld
by the first x-man
Summary: Eugene Fitzherebert, now a sergeant in the royal guards, questions what really happened when Rapunzel was kidnapped all those years ago. One old woman working alone just didn't seem to add up to him. As he digs more and more, having more questions than answers, he ends up finding something more sinister that what he could ever imagine. Rates M for harsh cussing.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"GET UP RIDER!"

"GAH! . . . what the hell?"

Eugene Fitzherbert woke up groggy and startled as Captain James took pleasure in getting him out of bed. Eugene noticed there were two other guards with him. Why they were there he was not sure. Eugene figured they were there to take pleasure in watching the captain torment him.

"Don't you assholes ever sleep?" He asked rolling back over pulling the blankets up to his cheek.

"Nope, crime doesn't sleep and neither do I. Now out of bed you already missed first formation and pt. Since you are wasting my time, I will be wasting yours later this evening with extra duty."

"With all due respect, Top, I think I should be the least of your worries when it comes to pt. Some of your boys couldn't run if there was naked broad running in front of them." He stated arrogantly.

"Rider, don't make me drag your ass all the way down stairs and smoke the shit outta you in front of the whole kingdom."

The captain started dragging the blanket off of Eugene. Extremely annoyed already, Eugene started kicking at him.

"Uuuuugh…..alright, alright I'm up!"

"You've got five minutes to be in uniform and down stairs"

Eugene rolled his eyes and flipped him off when the captain walked away. He hated being part of the royal guards. Eugene did feel honored when he was asked to join, but it's just that the guards were….how to put this nicely….stupid.

He got dressed in a white, cotton, button up shirt, rolled the sleeves up past his elbows, threw on a pair of black pants, and a black pair of boots. He was never one for following orders, why should he start now?

Eugene had made the rank of Sargent unusually quick over the two years after he had returned Rapunzel home. The only reason Eugene made it to Sargent so quickly was because he was the only one that knew how to lead anyone without having to be trained. He was in charge of a squad which consisted of about twelve other soldiers, and he had the largest squad. Eugene's first sergeant made it that way because, honestly, Eugene wasn't the most liked person in the eyes of his superiors and felt they should give Eugene an enormous amount of responsibility. Even though it was his first sergeant that promoted Eugene, he secretly wanted to watch him fail. Eugene knew this, it was clear as day, but Eugene kept up with the tasks given to him bound and determined to not fail. He wasn't the over achiever type, but Eugene knew it just made his superiors more angry when he completed everything that was thrown his direction.

Not only did he have to keep track of twelve other soldiers, but he also had to write monthly counseling statements for each of them, conduct most of the training on his own, and make up the training schedule. If any of his guys got into trouble, which they did frequently, not only did they get into trouble, but Eugene got chewed out for it as well. Getting into trouble for someone else's stupidity and doing paperwork were two things he loathed with a passion. Unfortunately, those two actions occurred a lot, and with him being the lowest ranking sergeant, he had just enough rank to get an ungodly amount of responsibility, but not enough rank to have a say in anything. His superiors were not letting him move up in rank anymore, anytime soon.

Eugene finally made his way down stairs outside to the training yard. Everyone was either engaged in hand-to-hand fighting, security training, or crew drills for artillery. Eugene looked around to see where and what his squad was up to. They were practicing crew drills, miserably failing to at least attempt to work together. Eugene strolled up to the young soldier who was giving out commands but mixing them up causing him to back track which resulted in everyone's confusion. This young soldier was a corporal, one rank below Eugene, but nowhere near the experience. In fact it looked like the young man was fresh out of basic training.

"Stop…..stop….just stop." Corporal Conli jumped a little when he noticed Eugene leaning on the fence post. Eugene had his eyes closed rubbing his temples.

"First of all Conli, where is your cheat sheet I gave you?"

Conli's eyes avoid his squad leader's as he started rocking back and forth on his heels nervously; his hands were interlocked with each other behind his back.

"Um…I lost it-"

"Ya lost it… of course you did." He took deep breath. "Alright I'm going to write down for you again, but _**you**_ are going to write it down 500 times for me and I want it in my hands by tomorrow morning. I want you to memorize those orders so much you are saying them in your sleep,"

"Taylor," Eugene turned to a new private to his right, "why are you standing in front of the cannon? Do you want to get hit?"

"Cal, you should be standing," Eugene grabbed the soldier by his shoulders, guiding him into position "here, right next to the cannon balls, so you can pass them to Blake, who should be here, in between Cal and the loaders who are Sage, and Lenny. You guys are getting better at loading the guns, but you need to slow it down. You guys try to go too fast on me and that's when you start to really screw up. Remember, slow is smooth and smooth is fast."

"Now Terry, you have got to get those coordinates right on your compass. If you are off just one centimeter here you are going to be off about a mile down range where it lands. You do that, and you take out somebody's house. If you can't handle it I can give someone else the position-"

"No!" Terry nearly jumped out of his seat when he replied. "I mean no, Sergeant, I'll get it. I promise I won't let you down."

"I hope not, because it's my ass if you take out a village." Eugene paused a moment to take a look around and realized half of his squad was missing. "How come there's only six of you where are my other six?"

"They are doing drills for clearing buildings, Sergeant"

'_Great' _Eugene thought, another training drill that his guys successfully failed at.

"Alright you guys keep going. I'm gonna go check on the other half of the squad."

Eugene ran over and watched his guys nearly kill each other with their rifles. Once they were done clearing the building, Eugene walked in looked around at the target dummies that were shredded from relentless firing upon. They were color coded so the soldiers knew which dummies were the enemy, ally forces, and civilians. After about five minutes of inspecting he came back out with a disgruntled look.

"You guys managed to kill every ally, and every civilian, yet leave the enemy alone. You made the enemy's job easier. You guys have no idea what you are doing do you?" He took a deep breath as he stared at them for a moment. "First of all none of you look like you know where you are going, and second of all you shot all the wrong targets. Red is the enemy, blue is the allied forces, and green are the civilians. We do know our colors, correct?"

His squad didn't say a word. They all looked rather drained due to lack of energy.

He sighed, "Go get some water and come back in five."

Eugene sat down on a nearby bench leaning his elbows on his knees and running his fingers through his hair. He thought over how he was going to get these guys in the shape they need to be. Why were they so poorly trained? After all of his responsibilities, Eugene was not able to train the men like he had wanted to. He could have so much planned for them if his superiors weren't such dicks to him. They wouldn't listen to reason.

"Hey Rider!"

"Fuck me." He mumbled under his breath. He didn't need to turn around to see who was calling him. That voice was unmistakable.

"Yeah, Top?" He answered unenthusiastically standing up to face him.

"Why are you not in your proper uniform?" Eugene looked at the captain like he was stupid.

"Seriously, your soldiers are the shittiest I have ever seen and you are going to bitch at me about my uniform?"

"You are the reason why my solders are horrible because they look at you, an NCO, not following proper protocol, or have any respect for rank higher than you."

"Their courteousness to authority is not the issue. You have guys that don't know how to properly aim a cannon and they are going to destroy a village; you have other guys who cannot tell the difference between our own guys and the enemy, and your soldiers cannot last in hand-to-hand fight because they are wearing themselves out due to the lack of endurance., and you are worried about I am wearing?

"Rider I have had enough of you and your mouth!" The captain grabbed Eugene by the collar as if scolding a child, and dragged him inside to where the King's office, not far from the training courtyard.

The Captain busted through the doors giving King Daniel a jolt as the doors violently flew open and Eugene was flung into the office. King Daniel, standing by his desk, just sighed pinching the bridge of his nose in dread.

"What is it this time?" The king asked dryly.

Daniel could have sworn they were father and son the way Eugene would rile the captain up and the way the captain scolded him. This was the third time this week Captain James brought Eugene to the king. King Daniel didn't want Eugene working in an office as he was more useful in the ways of tactics, planning missions, and using the element of surprise in war time. When King Daniel brought about the idea of Eugene joining the royal guards to the captain, he fought tooth and nail trying to convince the king that it was a horrible idea. Captain James did not trust Eugene any farther than he could throw him, and he knew it would cause nothing but trouble. King Daniel was starting to think that he was right.

"You're Majesty," the captain started; trying to keep his temper in check, "Please forgive me for my unorthodox entrance, but I am done trying to do anything with this . . . this . . . imbecile!"

The Captain's control over his temper was slowly waning. Eugene could see his face was turning multi- shades of red.

"It's not my fault you suck at your job." Eugene's tone was cool. He stood there shifting his weight to one side, picking at his nails.

The captain finally lost control.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I AM A CAPTAIN YOU WILL RESPECT ME!"

King Daniel interjected before the captain could get in another shout.

"Calm yourself, Captain."

"Yeah, Top, watch your blood pressure at your age it can be dangerous-"

Before Eugene could say anything more, the captain completely snapped and was about to put his hands around Eugene's neck, but the king got in between the two before the captain could fully outstretch his arms. The captain noticed the smirk on Eugene's face, but not only was it a smirk, he was…laughing. _'Was this Eugene's entertainment?'_ The captain thought.

King Daniel faced Captain James as calmly as he could.

"Why don't you go outside for a minute and cool off. I want to have a talk with Sgt. Fitzherbert."

The captain, still eyeing Eugene, walked out of the office, shutting the door behind him. King Daniel turned to face Eugene who still was wore a smirk on his face. He raised an eye brow.

"Eugene, wipe that look of your face before I do it for you."

Eugene looked down biting his lip trying very hard not to laugh. Eugene knew he was wrong for giving the captain so much hell especially these last few weeks. But when Eugene had tried hard, and do what he was told with no sarcastic remark, he still received a verbal lashings from the captain for whatever reason; sometimes no reason at all. Whatever Eugene did just never seemed good enough to the captain. So Eugene's logical thinking was if he was going to get in trouble for no reason he might as well give the captain a reason. Eugene eventually made it a game every day to see how quickly he could get the captain to boil over. The record so far has been one hour.

"What is going on with you? Why are you making James' life so difficult? Are you trying to get thrown out of here?" Eugene let out a chuckle and rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but your "star captain" is an idiot. Your troops are so badly trained that if someone declared war on us right now, you would have a better chance of surviving if you just threw up the white flag immediately."

King Daniel was taken by surprise at this statement.

"How do you figure?"

"Well as I attempted to explain to your captain, the troops have poor teamwork skills, they are more likely to shoot each other rather than the enemy, and they would not last five minutes in fight. It's pretty embarrassing."

Eugene thought back to when he took out a handful of troops with just a frying pan, including the captain. They were so easily beaten; it's as if they didn't even try to defend themselves. It was sad to watch.

"Well if you feel they are that poorly trained then I will put you in charge of training them and get them into shape."

"Sir, I already am."

King Daniel narrowed his eyes questioningly and tilted his head at him.

"I have been in charge of not only my own squad, which by the way consists of twelve soldiers, but I am in charge of coming up with the training schedule, the actual training, and getting these guys physically in shape, which is a feat all in itself. I don't have time to train these guys like they need to be, and no one will listen to me." The king rested his fist on his hip while stroking his mustache with the other. He slowly strolled back to his desk deep in thought.

Eugene continued. "Sir, I realize that being part of the guard was going to be a huge responsibility, and I…" Eugene paused as he chose his words carefully, "I am very appreciative of the trust you put into me, but seriously this is ridiculous. I am only one person. I physically cannot be everywhere at once which is what everybody expects me to do."

"Do you not have any other sergeants helping you out? Did the captain not appoint anyone to you that you could task out?" Eugene shook his head. "Hmm, that does pose as a problem."

After a few minutes of thinking, the king ordered Eugene to go back down stairs and bring the captain back up to talk with the both of them. Eugene went outside spotted him and whistled for him to come back. The captain hated whenever Eugene whistled for him. Not because he whistled, but it was the way that Eugene did it. He whistled like he was calling a dog. Eugene might as well have thrown in the 'C'mon boy c'mon.'

The captain had just rolled a cigarette when Eugene whistled for him. He was going to ignore the annoying little bastard, but then realized the king was the one that wanted him. He put the cigarette in his pocket and strolled up the stairs and into the office once more, this time, a little less agitated.

"Captain, I have been informed of the large amount of responsibility put on Sgt. Fitzherbert. You will be pleased to know that you will no longer be in charge of him." The king stated.

Confused looks came across both of their faces.

"Sgt. Fitzherbert will be strictly in charge of making up the training schedule, and training the men. That is all. He will be taking all orders from me and only me." The captain was shocked.

"Sire, I am not trying to question your authority, but do you really trust Rider to do his job with hardly any supervision?"

"Says the man who lost the princess for eighteen years."

Rage shot through the captain; his blood came to a boil. He slowly turned to Eugene.

"How DARE you insult me like that!"

"Hey all I am saying is that it is just a little odd for a multi-century old woman to, quietly sneak through the village, climb up a tower to the bed chamber of the princess, which I might add is about seventy feet high, grab the princess, climb back down, get out of town undetected, and climb up another tower, which was less than twenty miles outside of town, all while carrying an infant. Now tell me that doesn't sound like an inside job to you."

James' fists were clenched with rage; his body shook, yet still kept his voice calm.

"Are you accusing me of the kidnapping our own princess?" That's when Daniel stepped in.

"Eugene what is wrong with you James would die protecting my daughter." His voice was full of shock. He almost felt insulted for the captain.

It was true. Captain James had carried all the responsibility of Rapunzel's disappearance for nearly two decades, and it wore on him greatly. It put him into a depression for quite a few years, to the point that he became an alcoholic. The king had to nearly relieve him of his duties after causing a huge fight over at the local tavern which nearly burnt down due to the brawl. That was James's wakeup call and realized he had better get it together. Eventually James made it his soul mission in life was all of his rage concentrated on capturing the infamous Flynn Rider. It gave James an outlet to channel all of his anger.

Eugene put up his hands in defense.

"I didn't say you made it happen. I just think it's a little strange how no one was able to even catch a glimpse of this woman let alone be able to keep up with her to find out where she was hiding."

"Rider wasn't it you who said and I quote 'my boys couldn't run even if there was a naked broad running front of them?'" Daniel looked to Eugene appalled at how he could say something that crude, but then realized, that's Eugene. He just says whatever comes to his mind.

"Are you telling me your men can't even keep up with a five hundred year old woman?"

With that the captain stormed out of the office, letting out a groan of frustration, throwing his hands in the air and slamming the door shut as made his exit. Daniel and Eugene were left staring at the door and then staring at each other. King Daniel crossed his arms in front of him resting his head on his fist. With frustration and exhaustion in his voice he asked Eugene.

"You already upset him once today, why did you go and do that?"

"I didn't do anything."

"You accused him of kidnapping Rapunzel."

"Nooo, I simply just stated what I thought was a very obvious fact. That fact the he got angry was not my doing. Don't worry he'll get over it."

Daniel sat behind his desk resting elbows on top, hands folded together in front of his face. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes trying to calm himself.

"You know what…Eugene how about you take the rest day off. Go relax, find Rapunzel. Honestly I would rather you be around her than the captain."

King Daniel was still leery on letting him be around his daughter so much, but today he will make an exception. He was afraid that if Eugene and James were around each other any longer that by the end of the day someone would come back a bloody mess and the other would be missing. He told Eugene to go outside and call for the captain to let him know he had the day off as well. Eugene opened the window facing the courtyard, stuck his head out the window, and cupped his hand around his mouth.

"HEY TOP! THE KING WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!"

'OK now he is just being an ass.' Daniel thought. "Eugene I could have done that. I said go outside and get him not yell outside my window."

Eugene opened his mouth to rebuttal, but with a quick snap of the king's fingers, he pointed to the door.

"Get out!" Eugene quickly left chuckling on his way out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter. 2

Rapunzel was in her painting room, humming a tune her music teacher had taught her to play earlier that day. Her hands and arms were covered in different color paint splotches and some even made it onto her dress. Rapunzel had been adjusting pretty well to royal life apart from constantly having to be escorted around almost everywhere and not getting much alone time with Eugene. It took some time getting used to though. She still occasionally had horrible night terrors about Gothel and that terrifying night she watched Eugene die in her arms. She still shutters just thinking about it time to time. It was sometimes a little hard to believe that she was living in a palace and Eugene still alive by her side. Sometimes she would pinch herself just to make sure she wasn't having a realistic dream. She would even wake up in the middle of the night to make sure Eugene was still with her. Rapunzel wouldn't settle until she saw him sleeping soundly in his own room with his arms wrapped around a bunch of pillows as if trying to pretend he was wrapped around her. Her heart would still skip a beat whenever she would see him walk in the room. All he would have to do is give her give her that crooked smile and her stomach would start fluttering. Rapunzel was suddenly broken from her thoughts when two arms wrapped around her and lifted her from her feet.

"Ooo Eugene!" She squeaked. "You scared me I didn't hear you come in." She lightly slapped him on the chest.

"Yeah I know, that was my intent." He chuckled followed by a kiss.

"What are you doing here; I thought you were out training with the others?"

"Your dad gave me the rest of the day off." Rapunzel eyed him and raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do?" She asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, I swear!"

Rapunzel didn't believe him for a second. She knew about the constant battles he fought with the captain. But she didn't blame him completely. The captain was kind to her but she saw the hell he gave to Eugene. It seemed like nothing he did was ever good enough. Like a disapproving father towards a disappointing son. It wasn't just the captain that gave Eugene a hard time, some of the servants and mainly the tutors in the kingdom never truly approved of him being there either.

"Ok maybe I kinda made him mad…a little." Getting nothing but an unimpressed look from Rapunzel, he finally admitted. "Ok I beat my record! I managed to piss him off in like 45 minutes it was fantastic!" Rapunzel just shook her head, turned and went back to her painting.

"Well, what did he do to you this time?

"Oh ya know, the usual, yell at me, get in my face, dragged me to your father."

He then went on to tell her that her father made him in charge of training and no longer took commands from the captain or anyone else except the king himself. Rapunzel expressed her happiness and relief that Eugene was finally given a break.

"So now that you have the rest of the day off what do you wanna do?"

"Well, I was thinking we could go on that picnic you have wanted to go on for the last week."

Rapunzel's eyes lit up as a smile crept on her face. She had been disappointed all week that Eugene had to work so late given all his responsibilities, and hadn't been able to take her out. He loved watching her light up the way she did. It was really the highlight of his day. Flynn Rider never would have cared about such things. But he wasn't Flynn right now was he? Flynn would never sneak up on a girl and snatch her around the waist just to hear her squeal his name. But Flynn was something of the past. It was Eugene's time to shine. The constant battles between himself and his alter ego never ended. But it was all worth the fighting so long as he got to be around her.

Eugene helped clean up Rapunzel's supplies and gave her a piggy-back ride down to the kitchen to grab some food for their picnic. Every chance he got to be close to her he took advantage of. He tucked his arms underneath her legs as they wrapped themselves around his waist. Rapunzel wrapped her slender arms around his broad chest and held on tight. She rested her chin on his shoulder taking in his scent. They got all sorts of strange looks from the servant cleaning around the palace. Some even gave a small smile and little chuckle. Rapunzel would sneak a kiss or two on his cheek when she thought no one was watching. All the while the queen was watching down the hall behind them smiling to herself. She was pleased to see her daughter so happy. In fact she was just pleased to see her daughter period.

They got to the kitchen when they found it was once again swarming with cooks. Usually they were shooed away. But Eugene taught her a few tricks of his trade to sweet talk her way through and swipe food as you go. Eugene noticed how "unappreciated" the cooks were and decided to use it to his advantage; a trick he has always used since he was a child.

Rapunzel distracted one of the cooks while Eugene stole one of the picnic baskets from the shelf. They worked well together hitting every single counter along the way out the back door making sure they picked up every sweet cookie, fruit, and as much bread as they could come across. Of course Eugene was much faster and managed to fill up his basket first. Rapunzel emptied into the basket what she could cradle in her arms.

They walked hand in hand with fingers interlaced towards to stables. Max was the horse they always took. They could ride double with no issue and Eugene never needed to steer for Max pretty much knew all their little hiding spots. As Eugene saddled Max, Rapunzel went and told him about her day. She told him about the new song she was learning, and how her math tutor had a really crooked nose.

"It's really hard to draw. I am so used to drawing normal noses like yours, or mine." She crossed her eyes to try and look at her own nose. Eugene caught a glimpse of her crossing her eyes and started to laugh. She was just too darn cute.

"Moth-, Gothel always told me that if I crossed my eyes like that they would get stuck. She told me how there are hooks on the inside of your eyeballs and they would get hooked together. I never believed her though. One time I tried to scare her into thinking that I did get my eyes stuck. She didn't like it though. I got into a bit of trouble that day."

"What did she make you do?"

"She made me wash some of my paintings off the walls and took my paints away for a week. It was a long week."

"All for crossing your eyes?" Rapunzel nodded her head.

Eugene was not sure what to do with the information he just received. Every time he heard another story of how Gothel abused Rapunzel, his anger rose a little more. He just took a deep breath and shook his head.

Max was saddled and helped Rapunzel up with her the basket. Eugene climbed up behind her. His right hand wrapped around her small waist while the other held onto the reins, and with a slight click of his tongue, they were off on a smooth trot towards their destination

The two enjoyed their lunch as they lay in the grass right next to a river bank. It was ironically the same river bank they came up on after their near drowning incident. They both agreed it was a good hiding spot. It was sheltered in the woods, and it had a story behind it, as did most of their secret meeting places.

Rapunzel watched Eugene make a daisy chain with the wild flowers that surrounded them as she nibbled on the last bit of her apple. She watched him closely, as if he was going to do a magic trick. If you didn't watch close enough you would miss it. She still had a lot of questions about his past. He never liked talking about it but every now and again he would indulge her curiosities. She knew he was an orphan and was a notorious thief, but that really was it. So she decided to crack open Pandora's Box once more.

"Eugene, do you have any siblings?"

He looked at her sideways.

"You know I am an orphan, right? I do recall telling you that."

"Yeah, but just because you were an orphan doesn't mean you don't have siblings."

"I don't know Blondie, if I did have siblings I never met them."

"Do you mind if I ask how your parents died?"

Eugene got up, dropped the half done daisy chain, and walked over to the edge of the bank. He picked up a few flat, smooth rocks and started to throw them. Rapunzel watched as they skipped all the way across to the other side of the river.

"I was really young Blondie, I don't really remember."

"Why don't you like talking about your past?"

"Well, it wasn't the most pleasant time in my life and I would rather not have to remember."

"They say history forgotten is bound to repeat itself."

"Well trust me my history is not something that is forgotten that easily and I don't plan on repeating anything if I can help it."

"They also say sometimes talking about it helps you move on and get over your past."

"Why are always trying to get me to talk about my childhood?" Eugene started getting frustrated

"I just want to know who you are."

"Rapunzel this is who I am. I am Eugene Fitzherbert, and I was an orphan who became a thief, who who happened to find the lost princess. That is who I am. And that is all that should matter." He paused for a moment realizing that he came off a little harsh. "Listen I love you ok. I am not the type of person to settle down with a pet let alone get married. You managed to bring me this far. It's not going to happen overnight, I will open up when I feel good and ready, ok?"

Rapunzel got up and walked over to Eugene. He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head against his chest. She felt bad for pushing the subject. She didn't want to rush him. She just was interested. All she ever knew for eighteen years was Gothel, Pascal, and herself. She was interested in getting to know everyone, especially when they have had such an exciting life like Eugene's.

"Look, it's getting late and everyone will probably be freaking out if we don't get you back by dinner."

Rapunzel looked up at him. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok, no harm done."

He smiled at her and kissed the crown of her head. He embraced her in one last tight hug before he helped her back up onto Max who had been crunching on apples. Once they were situated, a simple click of the tongue was all that was needed and off they rode back to the kingdom.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

That night, Eugene lay wide awake in bed. It wasn't strange that he couldn't sleep right away. He was so used to being up during the night and asleep during the day for most of his life that his body still had not acclimated to the time change quite yet. It was getting easier but some nights were harder than others to fall asleep. He had been going over the events of the day. He thought about his squad, the fight with the captain, and his new position the king gave him. But there was one thing in particular that really stuck in his mind. It was what he had said to the captain. _'Tell me that doesn't sound like an inside job to you.' _The phrase repeated inside his head. He didn't know why he said it. He hadn't really given it a whole lot of thought until now. But to be honest, as he thought more about how Rapunzel was kidnapped, it didn't quite add up. He got up to get a look at the layout of the kingdom from his balcony. He pulled the covers back and immediately felt the cool night air on his bare chest. He had a pair of black silk pajama pants that hung loose and dragged a little on the floor as he walked. He opened the double glass doors to his balcony and walked out. Eugene scanned his surroundings. He could see the marina at his two o' clock. Directly to his twelve was the bridge that led to the mainland. As he looked down around the town he made a mental note as to where everything was. He identified where the local tavern was. He had been there so many times he could sleepwalk there. Next was the church. That was lower on his list of places frequently visited, but it was difficult to miss the tall structure that was the bell tower next to it. The last place he was able to identify was the hospital. He had been there a time or two in the past two years. Mainly it was for the fights he had gotten into with the captain or anyone for that matter, but the queen also insisted he go anytime he had a bump or scrape from any escapade he had been on. He continued to look around town. He was able to identify where the roads were. He drew a mental map in his mind picking out more landmarks. He had an incredible memory. He was able to look at maps and have the entire area nearly memorized. It was like the landmarks and roads lit up in his mind making a virtual map. Some called it a gift. He decided he needed a better view. He looked up and saw a brick slab that jutted from the wall just above his doorway to the left. It held the Corona flag. He judged it was a good twelve feet above. He climbed up on the railing of the balcony and started gripping the bricks with his finger tips and placing his toes in between the spaces.

Eugene was about a third of the way up when he heard a clicking noise that came from his room below. He stopped dead in his tracks. Looking below him he judged the distance between himself and the railing of the balcony. Pushing off of the wall he landed perfectly on the railing in a crouched position holding onto the rail with his hands. He moved down off the rail smoothly like a hunting cat approaching it's pray. He moved quickly and quietly back into his room only to be surprised to find Rapunzel.

"Rapunzel?"She spun on her heels whipping her head around as she was surprised herself to find him not in his bed. "What are you doing here?"

She bowed her head down.

"I'm sorry, I just…I had another nightmare. I just wanted to see you."

"Oh honey, I'm sorry." He scooped her up and carried her over to his bed and placed her on his lap. He remembers waking up to Rapunzel screaming in terror night after night. Her nightmares were less frequent, but still not any less terrifying.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head.

"Well ya know, they do say that talking about it can help."

"Oh yeah, where did you here that?" Eugene smiled.

"Oh, just this really cute brunette who is constantly trying to get me to talk about my past told me."

"Cute brunette, huh? I'm gonna have to go find her and beat her up." Eugene giggled.

"Please don't. She's the only one who can get my nose right, so I want to keep her around for a while." Rapunzel turned her head up towards Eugene who was resting his chin on her head.

"So is that the only reason you stick around?"

"Eh...I'm sure some other useful quality will come around soon enough and I will add that to my list."

"Heeey." Rapunzel slapped him lightly on the cheek.

Eugene quickly grabbed her hand and kissed it softly meandering around the top of her hand trailing up to her wrist. They interlocked their fingers as Rapunzel nuzzled closer into Eugene's chest. It was nice being held, and it was nice receiving real love. Rapunzel thought what Gothel was giving her was real love. Instead she was just being used. It took a long time for Rapunzel to really know what being cared for was like. She trusted Eugene. He gave his life to save her, to break her from her promise. But sometimes she had a feeling that there was some underlying reason as to why Eugene was sticking around. She knew that wasn't the case. Eugene had proven this to her over and over again. But she couldn't help it. Sometimes it is hard to really trust anyone, especially when one finds out that the first eighteen years of their life had all been a lie.

Eugene didn't get sleep that night. He stayed up still thinking about what he had said to James while holding and cuddling Rapunzel back to sleep. Once he knew she was fast asleep, he carefully picked her up and carried her back to her room. He laid her on the bed and tucked the blankets around her. She stirred in her sleep a bit, but was still fast asleep. Eugene caressed her forehead down to her cheek with the back of his hand and kissed the top of her head before he left. By the time he walked out of Rapunzel's room and shut the door behind him he noticed the sun creeping in through the windows in the great hallway.

'_Well, I guess it's time for work.'_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Ok so here are the plans that I have drawn up for training."

Eugene pulled out a piece of paper to show to King Daniel. To anyone else would look like a giant scribbled mess, but to Eugene, it was organized.

"So this is going to start at roughly 6, 6:30 in the morning. I don't like getting up that early but we have a lot of work to do. So for like the first hour, we are just going to run for a while. Later when they all build their endurance I want to incorporate scaling-"

"Scaling?"

"Yeah, like climbing. I know it sounds a little far-fetched but trust me it has come way more in handy than not." Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Just trust me. If there every comes a time when we need get around places and not want to be seen, this will really help." Daniel wanted to argue but Eugene did have a point.

Eugene continued going over the training schedule with Daniel. Eugene had every week planned out for the next month. Daniel was impressed with what Eugene had come up with. If everything goes right his men should be a lot more prepared to defend their kingdom in just less than six months. It seemed like a long time but with everything that Eugene had prepared it was quite a bit to cover. The troops would learn so much more in six months than they had in the last year. They were strange and different tactics. Things like sneak attacks, scaling buildings, and blending in plain sight. It sounded strange, but when Eugene explained to Daniel why it was important it made complete sense. He also incorporated weapons training. Not just sword fighting and shooting, but learning how to pick up any stick around them and using it as a weapon, using small knives, and of course he also fit in hand to hand fighting. With fighting, he would have to start with the very basics; how to move, dodge, counterattacks, and combinations. He had to teach them about control, accuracy and precision. Some men couldn't even form a proper punch, and they ended up hurting themselves severely.

"Well Eugene, I have to say I am quite impressed. I like what you have and I am giving you full trust to get these men in the shape they need to be."

"Thank you, Sir, I appreciate that."

Daniel got up from his chair behind his desk. Eugene was about to move out of the way when his foot accidently knocked something loose on the bottom of Daniels desk. When he looked down he noticed a small panel of wood was knocked out of place and lying on the floor.

"Sir, I think it's time you got a new desk." Eugene bent down to put the piece back into place. "This old thing is falling apart."

"This 'old thing' has been in my family for years. I will not give it up until it cannot stand any longer."

"Seriously? It's a desk not a…pet."

"It's an old family heir loom, besides my great grandfather bought it from Austria, real good hardy build, solid wood." Daniel pounded his fist down on top of the desk to prove a point, but only resulting in a few loud clunks coming from inside one of the drawers and the plank of wood falling out again at the bottom.

Eugene looked back up at Daniel and raised his eyebrows. "You were saying?"

"Well…maybe it is time a put this old thing out to pasture, but not until I find a new one."

"Whatever, Sir." Eugene shook his head and chuckled at him.

"Well my boy," Daniel put his arm around Eugene's shoulders, "lets grab some lunch, what do you say?" Eugene shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure, I could eat."

The two walked outside to the stable and saddled their horses. Eugene grabbed Max, and Daniel grabbed his prize winning mare. She was a beautiful black Friesian named Felicity. Daniel bought Felicity ten years after Rapunzel went missing and she had proven herself to be quite the distraction from the pain and depression he had felt. They rode together toward the village and stopped at the local tavern. It wasn't any five-star joint but the food was decent, and they had beer. After they ordered their lunch, Daniel noticed Eugene was lost deep in thought. Eugene rested his elbows on the table with his hands interlocked together and he laid his chin on them. He had a distant stare towards the ground with his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Eugene…Eugeeene?...RIDER!"

"Huh?" Eugene's eyes snapped over to Daniel.

"What are you thinking about so intently?"

"Oh…nothing, just all the stuff I have to do."

"Son, I have known you for two years now. Never once have I ever seen you think this hard over 'work'. C'mon, something is bothering you, I can tell. What's on your mind?"

"Is it that obvious?" He sighed sitting back in his chair.

Eugene thought for a minute. He wasn't sure what he was thinking. He didn't have any proof that what he thought about Rapunzel's kidnapping all those years ago was a set up. He wasn't even sure if he truly believed it himself. But what he was sure of was something did not up add up, and he couldn't get it out of his head since the last time him and the captain had their argument.

"Well, ever since Captain and I had our last fight, I haven't been able to stop thinking about what I said."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when I said that Rapunzel's kidnapping seemed like an inside job?" Daniel nodded his head once. "Well, at the moment I honestly was just being a smartass just to rile him up. I knew that would do the trick. But then I really started to think about it. It really doesn't make sense. I mean haven't you every thought about it? Didn't you do any investigating of her kidnapping?"

"I did and no one saw anything."

"See that's what I am talking about, doesn't that seem strange to you? How was it that this old woman was working by herself and no one saw her."

"I did see her."

"You did?"

I saw her when she took Rapunzel. I saw her just before she left the room. It was quick, but still to this day I remember what she looked like. She was old, very old. She was like something that came from the grim reaper himself. "

"Sir, she kidnapped Rapunzel for her hair. She was able to keep herself young all those year."

"That was the issue. We weren't able to know what she looked like when she was young again. Trust me I searched for a long time. We could never find her."

"That's another thing, her tower was not far from the kingdom and no one happened to come across it. I found it by chance. It really wasn't that well hidden."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Sir, who was in charge of the search parties at that time?"

"Well, Captain James of course." Eugene let his silence prove his point.

"Are you suggesting that the Captain led my men astray to keep them from finding my daughter? Eugene Fitzherbert I know you two don't get along-"

"Look it's not about us getting along, and I am not suggesting anything about anyone. But you cannot deny the fact that it does not look good. Doesn't any of this bother you?"

"Listen Eugene, I have spent the better part of the last twenty years beating myself up over letting my daughter go. I failed in trying to get her back. But I can't focus on that. I shouldn't have focus on that in the past. I had a kingdom to run, and a wife to take care of. I am just thankful she is back and I have you to thank for that. Let's just let it go. I don't want to focus on the past. Let bygones be bygones."

"But-" The king raised his hand motioning Eugene silent.

"Look our food is here. Let's eat and put this whole thing behind us, shall we?"

But Eugene couldn't put it behind him. He needed to find some answers. One way or the other he needed to find at least some shred of truth that would lead him to some sort of conclusion whether his notion was right or wrong.

* * *

Eugene was sitting on a fence post over at the training courtyard. His men were training. It was going fairly decent. It had been a slow start but just after three weeks of his training plan they really started showing some improvement. His men could hold a hand to hand fight without getting winded the first five minutes, their coordination was improving, and some of them were really starting to show some real leadership skills. Eugene had even planned in sometime for Corona's doctor to come and give some quick medical training for when they are out on the battle field. He showed them how to dress a wound, and use their belt as a tourniquet and tie off a bleeding limb. He shared some newly discovered information as well. He showed them how to revive someone by breathing air into their lungs and performing chest compression. Captain James had even gotten in on some of the training as well. He didn't show it but he was quite impressed with the young man.

Captain James walked up behind Eugene who was watching his men.

"If you came here to criticize me again, save your breath, because I really don't care about anything you have to say." Eugene turned his head to look back at James. James was a little shocked. First of all, how did he know it was him that walked up behind him? Secondly, what Eugene had said struck him a little. Eugene could read the expression on his face. "I can hear how you walk. You're really heavy footed, and you put most of your weight on your heels, so I can always tell it's you." James once again didn't show it on his face, but was impressed.

"Well I didn't come here to criticize; I came here to…tell you that….you are…doing well." Eugene looked at him sideways, skeptical about what he was saying.

"The king and I have been doing a lot of talking and he has brought to light all of what you have accomplished in just a few short weeks. I really mean it when I say…good job, Soldier.

"Thanks…I guess."

There was silence for a while. Eugene was the first to break the silence.

"Well…this has been officially awkward." He jumped down off the fence and the two faced each other. "I'm uh…I'm gonna go do…something."

"Uh, yeah me…me too."

After one more moment of awkward silence they both turned away from each other and walk in opposite directions.

Later that day Eugene went into the company hall. There was quite a bit of chaos going on but everyone seemed like they knew the method to the madness. Eugene heard jingling behind him and he turned to see what it was; keys, a very large ring of keys. This gave Eugene an idea.

"Hey are those the keys to all the gates around here?"

"Not just the gates Sargent, but to all the main doors of the kingdom and to the dungeon, and our armory key is on here."

"Who is usually in charge of those keys?"

"Well the Captain is Sargent, but I need them to get into our armory. We have to clean our weapons and do a maintenance check on all of our equipment; Captain's orders."

"K thanks."

With that Eugene walked towards the king's office. He casually ran up the stairs towards his office and started walking down the hall. It wasn't anything solid, but all the keys being controlled by one person seemed odd. He wanted to talk to the king about it. He wanted to talk to him in private, so he hoped the captain wasn't around.

All of a sudden Rapunzel came from around the corner and jumped out at him.

"GOTCHA!" Eugene sucked in a sharp breath.

"Jesus Christ, Rapunzel, you nearly gave me a heart attack!

"Aw, what's the matter? Can't take a little bit of scaring from a girl?" Eugene gave her a funny look.

"No, I just don't want to accidently punch you in the face."

"Oh, yeah that wouldn't be good."

"No, not really. What are you doing, how did you know I was up here?"

"Well I had to see my father about a diplomat meeting. He wants me to join him on it next week. So we were going over the details of what was going to be happening. Then I saw you start to come up the stairs and figured you were coming to see him, so I decided to have some fun." She sounded quite pleased with herself. She was beaming knowing she got the better of Eugene Fitzherbert. Just then the king's office door opened up; he was talking to someone. The captain followed behind him.

"Oh here he is, FATH-

"No it's ok-"

"Ahh Eugene, what are you doing up here, you need something?"

Daniel greeted him with a smile.

Eugene looked at both James and Daniel and then back at Rapunzel, who were all staring back at him making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Uh… you know what," he exhaled causing his cheeks to puff out, "I don't…um… Rapunzel popped out and scared the hell outta me and I just…I can't remember what I came up here for. So… yup I forgot and I'm gonna go."

Eugene quickly turned around made a b line straight for the exit.

"You are such an idiot." He mumbled to himself.

The three were left speechless and confused.

James looked to Daniel. "That kid is not right in the head."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Eugene was laid up in bed once again not able to sleep. He thought about those keys. The captain was in charge of those keys. The captain was also the one who was in charge of the search parties. This was starting to not look good. He didn't really think that the captain could be responsible for Rapunzel's disappearance. The king even said that he became really depressed; that he would die for Rapunzel. Maybe he had a guilty conscience. Who knew, but one thing was for sure, Eugene needed to dig deeper. He wanted to talk to the king about what he had discovered, but he couldn't do it in front of the captain. It will just have to wait.

He decided to get up and roam around the castle for a while. He threw on a pair of pants, a shirt and his boots. That soldier told him that the ring of keys also went to the dungeons below, so he started there. He ran into a few guards patrolling the halls, but for the most part they left him alone. When he got there, quite a few memories came flooding back, specifically the time he had last been in here. It was hard to believe it was just two years ago how close he had been to being hanged, and not been able to save Rapunzel had it not been for Maximus and the Snuggly Duckling thugs. He started walking down through the walk way of the jail cells. There weren't a lot of prisoners, and the ones that were in jail were kept there to sleep off their drunken state. The nice thing about Corona was there wasn't a whole lot of crime. Eugene's time as a thief was the only major crime that had been seen in years, actually, since Rapunzel had been kidnapped. But since Eugene gave up thieving and Rapunzel came back home, Corona stayed pretty quiet.

Eugene walked deeper into the dungeon and came across a small doorway that looked like it hadn't been used in years. The average soldier could miss it if they weren't looking for it. Eugene had been down here plenty of times and he couldn't every recall seeing it. The door was dark almost black, and it was hidden pretty well hidden behind the cob webs. Eugene wiped some of the cobwebs away from where the door handle should have been. It had been removed. He pushed and attempted to pull on the door but to no avail the door would not budge. Being a thief, well now former thief, one of the things Eugene always carried with him was his tools to pick a lock. Eugene had his hidden in his boot. It was inconspicuous, and easy to get to. Eugene pulled out a long flat piece of metal and a long thin round pick. He knelt down on one knee and inspected the lock. It was a fairly simple lock, nothing he hadn't cracked into a thousand times before. He placed the flat piece in first on the top portion. He maneuvered it around a bit, jiggling it until he heard a click as the flat piece set into place. Then he placed the pick on the bottom part inside the lock and put that one in place. He moved them both simultaneous until he heard a loud click and turned the two tools together until it unlocked. Eugene put tension in the two tools and used them to pull open the door. The door was a bit heavy and he had to keep adjust his tools as he pulled door open to keep them from sliding out and causing the door to slip shut again. Once there was enough room for his hand he held on to the door with one and placed his tools back in his boot. He stood up and pulled the door the rest of the way open. It made a loud and horrible screeching noise that he was sure someone heard, but no one came to investigate.

When the door was open he looked down the…well he wasn't sure what he was looking at; it was pitch black. All the torches were fixed on the dungeon walls so he couldn't bring one with him. He just had to go in blindly. He slowly walked up to the edge of the thresh hold. Not knowing what was there he put one foot out to feel what was below. Luckily there was a floor. He realized how ridiculous that seemed; having no floor behind a random door that no one uses, but one can never be too careful. He took another step and his left foot hit something. He raised his foot a little higher and realized the there was a stair case going up. Eugene outstretched is arms to feel what was around him. He discovered that the stairwell was very narrow and it winded up. Eugene reached to the top. He knew it was the top because he ran into what felt like a wall. A wall? A staircase that lead nowhere? He pushed the wall a little harder; it moved! But there was some sort of scraping sound on the other side, and he saw light. Where was he? He pushed more just enough for him to get through. Once he was through he looked around and found what the scraping noise was. It was a small wooden table. Eugene pushed the "door" to see what the table was up against. It was a huge floor to ceiling painting of one of the past royal family members. Eugene froze. He took another look around. Once he figured out exactly where he was, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He had found a secret passage to the royal bed chambers, all of the them; his, Rapunzel's even the king and queen's.

"Oh my God." _'This must be how Gothel got in.'_

Eugene ran back through the hidden door, ran down the steps, slammed the door shut, (which caused and even louder bang that he was sure that time someone heard) ran back through the dungeon, up the stairs back through the hallways and corridors, back to where is bedroom was, placed the table back where it was, ran into his bedroom and nearly slammed the door behind him. He had to talk to the king this time. It just couldn't wait.

Later that afternoon, Eugene ran up to the king's office. He walked gingerly down the hall just in case the captain was in his office. The king's door was cracked open just enough for Eugene to be able to peek in. Once he found the king was alone, he burst into his office.

"Daniel we need to talk."

Eugene's abrupt entrance made Daniel jump. He placed a hand over his heart and exhaled.

"Good Lord Eugene, you are going to kill me one of the days."

"Listen I know you said to forget about it but-"

"You're not still talking about James kidnapping my daughter are you?" Eugene's eyes looked up as he figured a way to reword.

"…Possible involvement….and yes I'm leading up to that."

"I really thought we dropped that issue."

"You may have, but I haven't. So here is what I found out-"

"Eugene, we are done talking about this."

"Yeah, but just listen-"

"Eugene."

"Daniel, you have to see-"

"Eu-gene"

"Oh come on, just hear- "

"ENOUGH!"

Eugene jumped a little. He had never heard the king yell. In fact he had never seen him get angry.

"Eugene, why are you pushing this?"

"Why aren't you? This is your daughter don't you want to catch the bastard who took away eighteen years from you?"

"Oh so now you have some sort of proof that someone was behind this?"

"No, I'm just saying that what everyone thinks happened is not adding up and I found some things that do add just …not in a good way." Daniel flicked his two fingers motioning Eugene to come closer. Eugene sighed and strolled up to Daniel's desk.

"Listen Eugene, I want you to stop. Look I know things look bad but just trust me when I say, leave it alone." Eugene was so confused. Why was Daniel hiding from this? He couldn't make sense of it. "I had spent eighteen years worrying about Rapunzel. I now have her back. Look, I am not going to be around forever. I just want to enjoy the time I have left with my daughter. So please stop this nonsense. Remember what I said, let bygones be bygones."

Eugene stared into the kings eyes. He didn't utter a word. He didn't even have an expression. He only listened. Maybe he was right, maybe it was all in Eugene's head, and he should respect Daniel and let him enjoy having his only child back into his life instead of pestering him with conspiracy theories. But there was something nagging at him. He couldn't let it go.

Daniel picked up a black book off his desk. When he went to lift it, he didn't notice that a piece of paper slipped out and floated to the floor on the side of the desk. Eugene picked it up. He was about to give it to Daniel, but he noticed something on it. Eugene read the heading of the paper: Declaration of War.

"Declaration of war! Sir?" Daniel spun around quickly and snatched the paper out of his hands.

"Sir, are we at war with someone?" There was deep concern in Eugene's voice; it was boarder-line fear.

"No! No, not at all. Please, Eugene, I have a lot of work to be done." There was irritation in Daniel's voice.

Eugene was hesitant. He turned a little to his left but never took his gaze off of Daniel. He looked at him with confusion, and a little bit of suspicion. He noticed how intensely Daniel was holding that black book; almost like he was trying to hide it from him. He looked at the book and then back to Daniel.

"Eugene…" Daniel extended his hand out motioning to the door.

Eugene slowly turned and kept his gaze fixed upon the king until he had to turn his head. Eugene left without another word. But before he closed the door all the way, Eugene spied on the king to see what he was doing. Daniel folded the piece of paper and placed it back in the black book. He turned and now his back was facing Eugene. Daniel removed a picture from the wall. It looked like there was a safe behind it. Eugene couldn't see all of what Daniel was doing but he assumed he put that black book in there and shut the safe door. Eugene turned and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath trying to regain his thoughts.

'_Let bygones be bygones my ass. What are you hiding Daniel?'_

So many thoughts ran through his head. The more answers he found the more questions he had. He had a feeling this was only the surface, and when he did find the answers, he had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he found. There was someone he could go to for help; he just needed to wait for the right time. 

* * *

Man 1: "That boy is asking too many questions."

Man 2: "Don't worry, he hasn't found anything yet."

Man 3: "He is right, we cannot risk it."

Man 1: "What do you suggest we do about it?"

Man 3: "I say we kill him."

Man 2: "No. No not yet, we must wait for the right time."

Man 3: "And when is that? When he has found everything out and exposes us?"

Man 2: "He won't get that far. But when the time is right, I say he make him do it. That way we can be rid of them both."

Man 1: "Yes, that is good idea. That will for sure get rid of both of them."

Man 3: "You don't suppose that boy is related to-?"

Man 1: "No, it couldn't be. His son died in a fire years ago along with his wife, although, he does have a striking resemblance to him."

Man 3: "Well whoever he is, one thing is true. We must keep a watchful eye on him."

Man 2: "You leave that to me, I will take care of it."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next week went by with a blur. King Daniel kept Eugene busy to the point where he didn't have time to continue his investigating. But that did not mean that he didn't keep trying. A few times he attempted to break into the king's safe. Each time he tried, however, something always seemed to stop him. There were too many guards around, or the king was up in his office, or someone would pull him away for something. It was as if the universe didn't want him to find out the truth. To be honest, Eugene wasn't one hundred percent sure he wanted to find out the truth. Who was he even doing this for anyways; Rapunzel, the kingdom, himself? No one else knew what he was doing except the king. He hadn't even talked to Rapunzel about it. He wasn't sure if he was going to either. But she had a right to know, didn't she?

Eugene's thoughts were broken when he felt a hand on his shoulder. This startled Eugene. so much he jerked his elbow back into the person's gut while bounding off the fence he was sitting on, turned, and took a fighter's stance. It wasn't until Eugene had his hands up ready to fight that he realized who it was.

"Oh shit, Top, I am so sorry." Captain James doubled over in pain groaning.

"Damn it Rider, ahh, I thought you could hear me walk up behind you."

"I'm sorry I just…sorry."

James winced a little as he straightened up. He rubbed his stomach until the pain dulled. He walked around to the same side of the fence Eugene was on. He noticed the look on Eugene's face. Then he sort of studied him. Eugene looked exhausted, his eyes looked slightly glazed over, and he wasn't standing up straight like he usually does. It looked like he hadn't slept for days.

"What's goin' on with you, why do you look like someone just kicked your dog?"

"Nothing, I'm just…tired. I've been working a lot and…." Eugene shrugged his shoulders.

James didn't believe him.

"Your skills at lying are waning you know that right? What's wrong having trouble with the Mrs?"

"What? No, Rapunzel and I are fine, look I'm just tired."

"Look when someone is that jumpy, it is a little more than just sleep deprivation. What's on your mind, Kid?"

Eugene wasn't so sure he wanted to talk to James about this. It was him that he suspected was involved with Rapunzel's kidnapping, or at least the signs were all pointing to him. But he needed to talk to someone about this. He needed an outsider's opinion. This was just all too confusing. He was about to start talking but then, an overwhelming feeling of nausea came over him. Eugene's face went pale. He turned quickly to the side, leaned over the fence and vomited and coughed until his stomach was empty. With every harsh cough his body shook. James let him have his space until he was done. He knew that Eugene's job was stressful but he didn't know he took it that seriously.

"You gonna make it, Kid?"

Eugene groaned "Noooo." He came back up from over the fence.

"Rider I know you have a lot on your shoulders right now but, don't let this job get to you."

Eugene looked at James confused. "Huh?...Oh you mean training, yeah, nah it's….it's not that I just haven't been sleeping well. I'll be fine."

"Do you need to talk about something?"

Eugene thought for a moment. "I think I need a drink."

"Beers up!"

Two mugs of beer were thumped on the bar and Eugene's head shot up from resting it on his arms as he tried to clear his thoughts. James took a sip from his beer and looked at Eugene.

"So, when are you gonna tell me what's on your mind?" Eugene didn't answer. He was busy downing his entire mug.

"Bartender!" Eugene raised his hand up above his head and pointed down to mug signaling for another drink.

"I don't think I can tell you without having a drink first." A worried look came over James's face.

"Eugene Fitzherbert what have you done?"

'_Did he just call me Eugene?'_ "Nothing, no it's not what I did; it's what I found out, or well trying to find out."

Another mug full of the frothy drink was placed down at the bar in front of Eugene. This time he only took a sip.

"Well…?" James's leaned his chin in the palm of his hand, resting his elbow on the bar as he patiently waited for Eugene to speak. He lightly rapped his fingertips on the bar.

"Do you remember when we got into that heated argument and you hauled my ass to Daniel's office?" Eugene received a stupid look from the captain.

"Which time?"

"The last time, when I said that you suck at your job, and you tried to choke me…"

"Oh, oh yeah that time. Yeah, I remember." James sat up taking another sip. "What about it?"

"Well do you remember when I said something to the effect that Rapunzel's kidnapping seemed like an inside job?"

"Yeah and you accused me of being a part of it."

"No, I didn't accuse you of anything. But anyhow, that's beside the point. Ever since I had said that, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."

"You really think someone in the kingdom helped that woman kidnap Rapunzel?"

"Well, doesn't that make sense? I mean honestly, if you really think about what happened, it doesn't add up. How was she able to get in and out of the kingdom undetected, for the most part, and have an infant with her?"

"I will admit it does sound suspicious."

"So you believe me?"

"Well I don't know. Have you found anything to back up your theory?"

"That's the thing, I have found some possible…facts I guess, but I don't think you are going to like what you are about to hear."

"Try me."

"They all point to you." James was stunned for a moment.

"Wait what?!"

"I know it's crazy but I don't know what else to think. I mean yeah I think you are an asshole, but I don't think you are that heartless to set up the princess's kidnapping."

"What exactly did you find?"

"Well, first of all you were in charge of the search parties and never found the tower. Rapunzel's tower is like a day's walk away, going slow. Also, I was told by one of our guys, you are the soul key holder in the palace, including any gates."

"Yeah but there are guards at the main entrances of the palace, how would have been able to get her inside?"

"You know that back entrance to the dungeons right?" James nodded his head. "And do you know about the door through the back of the dungeon that no one uses?"

"The one with the winding staircase that leads to the royal's chambers behind the painting of King Daniels great grandparents." Eugene slowly nodded

"That's the one."

James took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. "Your right, I understand how that looks. I would be concerned myself."

"Does anyone else know about that passage way up?"

"No I was the only one. It was supposed to only be used in case we became under attach and need to get the king and queen out." It is pretty hidden back there. How did you find it so easily?"

Eugene stared at James for a moment "I was a thief; it's kind of my job to find things like that. It tends to make things easier to get around without getting caught."

"Well, I do understand how all that looks to an outsider. All of that makes sense; except there is just one thing."

"What?"

"Though I was in charge of the actual search parties, I was not the one who gave the orders in where to look."

"Mmm," Eugene was in mid sip of his beer, "And who was that?"

James paused for a moment, "The king."

Eugene let it sink in for a moment. He chugged the last of his beer and whistled for the bartender to pour him another one.

"Ya know, that brings me to another thing that…I am not really sure what it has to do with what we are talking about, but it is weird." James tilted his head in question.

"I was actually going to talk to Daniel about all of this a few weeks ago. But he didn't want to talk about it. He even got mad at me for even bring it up."

"Hmm."

"And then he picked up this black book, which by the way looked like he was trying to hide from me, and a piece of paper fell out. It…it said 'Declaration of War' on it."

"Are we at war?!"

"Shhh, not so fuckin' loud, and, no, he said we weren't, but I don't know. Why would he have that if we weren't and if we were why would he lie about it. Wouldn't he want us to protect our boarders as soon as possible?"

"Well in Hines sight, this kind of makes sense."

"What do you mean?"

"Iit started about 25 years ago. He was usually pretty open with me about what was going on in the kingdom. I wasn't part of his council, but I was the one he usually confided in, both personal and business. But then the king started being really secretive, really distant. It wasn't immediate, but the change was definitely noticeable. And the black book you were talking about, he's had that for a long time. No one knows what's in it or why he carries it around with him. And then ever since Rapunzel's disappearance, it got worse. Queen Elizabeth even admitted that he was not himself. She was always worried about him. He would stay up late every night, said he had "meetings". But when you are in a peace time, I don't know what "meeting" would take all night long to talk about."

"Well I think I can fix that. I saw where he hides that book the other week. It's just not so easy trying to break into his office."

"You were able to break into the throne room and steal Rapunzel tiara and you can't figure out how to sneak into the king's office?"

"Hey, I had three people helping last time, and I came in through the roof. I don't have that option this time."

"Well what I want to see is that tower you keep saying is so close. How close did you say it was?"

"Walkng, it's about a day; riding, probably about a half a day; riding at break neck speed, just a few hours."

"How about this, we leave tomorrow morning to go check it out and see if we can't find any clues of some sort. Let's search in the place where she was hidden. If that woman was in cahoots with someone we know, then maybe she had something there that would give us some sort of direction. "

"Sounds like a plan." Eugene stared down at his beer for a minute. "Hey, this may sound like a really dumb question, but I do have to ask." James turned his head to listen. "You didn't have anything to do with Rapunzel's kidnapping, right?"

James smiled, "No, I didn't, and you have my word on that." Eugene nodded his head. They both sat in silence for a little while. Both of them lost in their own thoughts about what they had just discussed. James suddenly remembered something.

"Hey isn't there some sort of function going on tonight at the palace?"

Eugene did a face palm and dragged his hand down his face and groaned. "Shit, I completely forgot. I'm glad you said something."

They both stood up from the bar and Eugene finished the last of his drink. James was about to pay the tab, but Eugene stopped him as he dug out some coins form his pocket and placed them on the counter. He walked past James towards the door without a word. James followed him with his head and smiled. _'Hmm, this kid has changed a lot.' _


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The grand ballroom was decorated and sparkling with chandeliers and champagne glasses. Everyone was dressed in their finest. King Daniel and Queen Elizabeth were greeting people at the entrance; Rapunzel was mingling with new guests. Eugene finally made his way to the ballroom. He ran up to the double doors still trying to pull his boot on and clasping his black vest shut at the same time. Elizabeth walked up to him.

"You're late." She scolded him as she fixed his collar.

"I know, I know I'm sorry." He said in a sheepish tone.

"Rapunzel is over there talking with the duke and duchess of Devonshire."

"Ok thanks." He trotted down the steps towards Rapunzel. He approached her from behind. Just as he was arm's length of her the duke and duchess said their goodbyes and left. Rapunzel's back was still facing him. He tapped her left shoulder, and as she looked to her left, he came around to the right and stole a kiss on her cheek. Rapunzel turned around, and slapped him playfully on the chest. She tried hide her smile with a scowl but ultimately failed. Eugene just laughed at her.

"Hey Blondie."

"You're late." Eugene rolled his eyes.

"Yes I know. Your mother already scolded me."

"Why are you late?"

"Uuuuhh I forgot."

"This has been planned for months. You're gonna have to give me a better excuse than that."

Eugene shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I'm a guy? I don't what do you want me to say?"

Rapunzel just stared at him with her arms crossed. She narrowed her eyes at him and moved her mouth to the side.

"I love youuu." Eugene puckered up his lips at the end of "you" waiting for her kiss. She gave in, got on her toes, and kissed him.

"Fine, just don't let it happen again."

"Yeah, Goldie, I can't promise that."

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by one of Eugene's "friends" belching right into his ear. Lenard Kane was a son of one of the nobles in Corona, an only son at that. He was a bit of a rebel and rambunctious like Eugene, but he was a more obnoxious about it.

"Hey Rider what's up?! Hello Princess."

"Hi Lenard." She tried to sound as polite as possible.

"Hey Rider you should go out to the balcony with the rest of the guys, we got something we want to show you." Eugene paused for a moment to inspect Lenard.

"Are you drunk already?" A smile crept of Lenard's face.

"Maaaybe."

Eugene just shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I'll be out there in a minute."

Lenard sort of skipped/stumbled over to one of the other young girls that had been talking with a friend. Eugene looked back to Rapunzel who looked a bit repulsed by Lenard's actions towards the girl. Eugene read her look.

"I know he is kind of an idiot, but he is one of the few that don't walk around here with a stick up their ass and shy away from me like I'm the devil himself."

Rapunzel gave a short chuckle. "Ok well you have fun with your…..friend. I am gonna go entertain some people." She gave a sarcastic look of excitement, which in turn made Eugene chuckle.

Eugene quickly glanced up at something that caught his eye. There were three men standing by the king, three men he had never noticed before. One was very tall and slender. He walked with a bit of poise and class. It almost looked like he had his nose slightly in the air and he looked down as he talked with people. He held a champagne glass in his hand with the stem of the glass in between in his middle and index finger. The second one was a bit shorter but much larger around. He rested his hands on top of his protruding belly. It jiggled as he laughed which was low and seemed forced. The third one just seemed like a follower. He was about the same height as the second one but not as big. His weight was somewhere in the middle compared to the other two. He was on the other side of the king leaning over trying to hear what was being said. Eugene lightly grabbed Rapunzel's arm before she walk off.

"Hey who are those guys?"

"Which ones?"

"The three standing by your dad."

Rapunzel stood on her toes trying to see. "Oh, they are ….part of the council….I think. The really big fat guy is Sir Grantham, the one on the other side of Daddy is Sir Ivan, I think, and the tall one…..I can't remember, but I think he is originally from Constantinople. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering I have never seen them before."

"Yeah, I don't see them very often, but they are like Daddy's main right hand men that he goes to, apparently." She shrugged her shoulder.

"Huh, interesting." Eugene wasn't sure why but he had a funny feeling about them. He decided to ignore it for now.

"Well I'm off, I'll see ya later." Rapunzel gave Eugene a kiss and she ran off.

Eugene gave the three men another glance before he turned to head to the balcony where the rest of the guys were. A waiter passed by him with tumblers filled with brandy. He quickly grabbed one off the tray and head out.

Eugene was greeted by his group of friends. There was Lenard, Conner, and William. Conner and William were brothers and were sons of someone important. Eugene never really paid any attention to that stuff as it never really mattered to him were anybody came from or what their last name was. So long as they were a decent person for the most part, and didn't act like they were gods, to him they were alright in his book.

"Heeeeyyyyy!" They all three cheered as Eugene made is entrance.

"Well, if it isn't Flynn Rider himself. Watch out ladies, he could steel everything you own including your honor all in the same five minutes." Carissa Romanov; she hated Eugene, with a passion. She was originally from Russia who married into the royal family from France. She had her little group of cronies that followed her everywhere.

"Oh Carissa, didn't anyone tell you? We have no use for street walkers here, so you can leave and take your trainees with you."

Carissa scoffed, "Trust me, if that were true, you wouldn't be able to pleasure me anyway."

"Oh, no, trust me I wouldn't want to catch anything that you might have."

"Why don't you jump off this balcony and rid us of your presence."

Eugene offered his hand out motioning toward the ledge. "Ladies first."

"I hope Rapunzel realizes what a snake you are, leaves you, and orders the death penalty you were supposed to have years ago."

"And I hope to watch you get run over by a runaway cart, but we all can't get what we want."

Carissa stared Eugene down. Eugene starred right on back as he took a sip of his drink. That's when Lenard extended his arm with his palm facing Carissa and said in a loud holy type voice, "BE GONE DEMON!" Eugene spit part of his drink out as he started to laugh.

Carissa scoffed once more and mumbled something in russian as she and her friends stormed off.

"What a bitch."

"Why does she hate you so much?"

"I don't know, because she has nothing better to do with her pathetic rich life than to treat everyone who doesn't worship the ground she walks on like they are inferior of her presence."

"Preach on brother."

Eugene gave a chuckle. "So what is it that you wanted to show me?"

"Ah yes, the goods." Lenard pulled out a flask, "Take a swig."

Eugene unscrewed the cap and took a sip. He let the liquid sit on his palate for a minute and then swallowed.

"Oh my God. Is this what I think it is?"

"Yup, bourbon straight from King Louie the XII made to perfection."

"Fuckin' hell how did you get ahold of this?"

"My dad knows a guy who knows a guy who is part of the black market. He had it imported last week. I have another bottle up in my room."

"Shit no wonder you are wasted. Hey that stuff isn't for getting drunk off of that's for occasions like you… saw God or something. Do you have any idea how rare and expensive that is? Just in that one sip I took is worth more than your life."

"Don't be such a tight ass Rider it'll be fine."

"Ugh, you guys seriously have no idea when you have a good thing do you?"

"Enough talking more drinking! Hey let's get up on the roof. Rider, I'll race ya."

"Yeah, what do I get out of it?"

"I will give you… the other bottle of this fine concoction."

"Wow you are either a lot more drunk than I thought or you seriously are too stupid to know what you have, but I will take it."

They shook hands binding their agreement, and Eugene finished off what was in his glass and placed it on the balcony rail. They both took their places on either side of the entrance into the ball room and got ready. William got in the middle to start them off.

"On your mark, get set, go!" They both bolted up the side of the building. Lenard was fast but Eugene proved the he was more skilled and more agile. Eugene was on the roof right above the entrance to the balcony. He sat cross legged waiting on his friend. He finally made his way up about thirty seconds after Eugene.

"It's about time you got up here, I thought you slipped and fell of the side."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. One of these days, Rider, I'm gonna beat you."

"Well, keep dreaming about that day. Just make sure you have my prize in my hands before you leave."

"Yeah I'll give you a prize," he followed with a punch to Eugene's arm. Eugene laughed it off.

The other two, William and Conner finally made their way up. They all sat in silence sharing the flask enjoying the taste of the rare liquid. It wasn't long before their silence was broken from someone calling from below.

"Hey guys, you up there?"

"Three groans came from Eugene's friends.

"Don't answer back." Conner warned.

"Why what do you have against him?"

"He is so annoying and he whines a lot."

"Hey guys?"

Eugene looked at the three narrowing his eyes in annoyance. "You three are whining right now."

Eugene got up and walked to the edge of the roof. Lucas Dalhart was a 15 year old boy from a wealth family from England. His father was head of the church but died due to a stroke when Lucas was only 9 years old. It was up to him to take care of his mother and little sister because he was the man of the house. But because his mother was so headstrong, she brought him up to take orders, especially from his little sister, and he was lacking in the "becoming a man" department of his life. Eugene felt the need to help him out anyway he could. Eugene knew what it was like to be on his own.

"Hey Luc, can you climb?"

"I can climb a tree."

"Well that's a fuckin' start." He sighed for a minute. "Just try and climb half way, reach up, and I'll help pull you the rest of the way."

The other three witnessing just sighed and shook their head. William laughed a little at Lucas's struggle. Eugene was successful in getting him up the rest of the way. Eugene took his spot back between Lenard and William and Lucas sat on the other side of Lenard. Lucas leaned into Lenard wondering what it was he had.

"What are you drinking?" Lenard slowly turned his head, feeling a bit uncomfortable for how close Lucas was.

"Nothin' for you, Kid." Eugene elbowed him in the arm.

"Ow, what?"

"Just let him have some; you're wasting it anyway by chugging it all. If it means that much to you just take it out of the bottle you owe me." Lenard rolled his eyes as he gave Lucas the flask. He took a sip, and made a sour face but tried to hide it.

"Thath…pri-ie good."

They all laughed at him. Lenard slapped him on the back. "Don't worry, Kid, you'll get used to it one day."

"Eugene?" Another voice called from below.

"Ah… damn it." Eugene got up again and walked to the edge and saw that Rapunzel was calling him. "Yes, Blondie?"

"Can you come down for a minute? I have someone I want you to meet."

"Um…alright I'll be down in a second." Rapunzel smiled and walked back into the ballroom. Eugene sighed. "Damn it I just got up here."

"Haha, you're whipped, Rider."

"Haha, at least I have a girlfriend." Lenard quickly shut his mouth.

Eugene quickly made his way down and met Rapunzel back into the ballroom.

"Sweetheart, I would like you to meet Sir Grigor Bachev." It was the tall slender man that was with the king earlier.

"Well, Eugene Fitzherbert, it is a pleasure to meet you." They shook hands.

"Pleasure is all mine." Eugene caught a glimpse of the Sir Bachev's hand and noticed he was wearing a ring. It was not a wedding ring. It was on the wrong hand. It was a simple gold band, but it had a symbol on it. The symbol was a cross. Not like a normal cross where the bottom portion was longer and the top was short, but all four lines were even, and they came to a fancy tip, like an arrow head or a fancy clock hand. It was a red cross. Eugene had seen this symbol before; he looked straight into Sir Bachev's eyes and forced a smile.

"Well, I must be getting on my way, it is quite late. Thank you for introducing us, Princess. Eugene, I feel we shall meet again." He bowed slightly to the both of them, turned and left.

"So that's his name." Rapunzel turned to Eugene smiling.

"Yeah I guess so." Eugene still continued to stare in the direction Sir Bachev was walking.

All of a sudden there was a ruckus that came from the balcony. They both turned to see Lenard, Conner, and William laughing hysterically trying to keep Lucas form falling down on his face.

"Bloody hell." Eugene ran over to the four and quickly caught Lucas before he hit the ground. "What the hell did you guys do? I said give him a sip, not get him trashed."

"He wanted more, what was I supposed to do deny a man a drink?"

"Ugh, you guys are complete morons. Come on Lucas I am taking you to your room."

"Oh come on…we were just starting to like the kid." The other two joined in with laughter. Eugene didn't bother to turn around. He just stuck his left hand up in the air and flipped them all off as he nearly dragged Lucas up to his room.

Up in Lucas' room Eugene laid him on the bed, pulled his boots off and threw a blanket over him. Lucas was mumbling something but not all of it was coherent.

"Those…..those guyssss were…'burp' fun."

"Yeah I'm sure they were; now it's time to sleep your condition off. I suggest you don't move too much when you first wake up." Lucas grabbed Eugene's hand before he left.

"Hey, I know I….I'm not like those other guys…and I can 'yawn' behee annoying, but thanks you fffor being there when no ones else will." And with that Lucas's hand dropped with a clunk hitting the side of the bed.

"Yeah." No one ever thanked him like that; no one ever looked up to him like that. He took one more look back at Lucas, smiled and head out the door.

Eugene went back to the ball room, but most of the party was gone except for a few diplomats that decided to stay and have a few more drinks. He figured Rapunzel had made her way to bed, so he decided to do the same.

Eugene changed into his night clothes and threw his others onto a chair in the bedroom. He would take care of them later. He crawled into bed, and judging by how exhausted his body felt, he figured he might actually get some sleep this time. Just as he slipped into sleep he was abruptly woken up by a blood curdling scream. He would have fallen out of bed when he rolled to his side so suddenly had he not smacked the side of the bed frame to keep his balance. He knew where the scream was coming from. Eugene threw the covers off jumped out of bed, threw his door open, and ran into Rapunzel's room. The guards didn't even bother to come running anymore. They knew the drill. She would wake up from her reoccurring night terror, Eugene would come running through, and calm her back down to sleep.

"NO, NO EUGENE! NO DON'T HURT HIM NO!" Rapunzel thrashed in her sleep.

"Rapunzel, RAPUNZEL!" He shook her awake. "Honey its ok it's just a dream. I gotcha, I'm right here."

Eugene picked her up and crawled into bed with her and placed her in his lap and held her tight as she cried into his arms. This had been worse than most nights, but nothing he wasn't used to. He continued to rock her and hold her tight. He stroked her head softly as she held tight. He placed the blankets back over her to keep her warm. Eugene continued to sooth her to get her to calm down. He even hummed a lullaby he once heard as a child. His voice was soft and comforting. After nearly thirty minutes of crying, she finally calmed down and her sobs slowly turned into hiccups. Eugene knew he was wrong for thinking it, but he could help but think she was adorable when she hiccupped after crying like she does. She just seemed so vulnerable in his arms, but he knew she was so much more than that. She was one of the bravest people Eugene had ever met. He admired that about her, especially after what she went through growing up. Because she was so strong growing up and having to deal with a living nightmare, anytime she broke down he wanted to be that rock for her that she could lean on until she could stand on her own again. He liked being needed; it gave him purpose in life. His thoughts slowly drifted away as sleep found the both of them.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next morning was a little bit of a drag for Eugene. Having to get up a little extra early, so no one (mainly Rapunzel's parents) would catch him in Rapunzel's room, caused him to lose some extra needed sleep. On top of that, he had to make sure he was ready to go out to Rapunzel's tower with the captain. They decided to leave before breakfast since it was such a long ride out there. That was going to take a while and be even more tiresome on his body, and mind. It was really the last place he wanted to go and never thought he would ever go back, at least not any time soon.

Eugene met Captain James out into the stables. James already had Max saddled and ready to go.

"You ready, Rider?" Eugene took a deep breath, rubbed his eyes and slid his hand down one side of his face.

"Yeah, I guess." Eugene Fitzherbert was many things, but a morning person was not one of them.

Eugene grabbed a bay colored Frisian, saddled, and bridled him. It took him only a few minutes and they both rode out of the stable. Most of the ride through the woods was pretty quiet. The captain decided to break the silence.

"So…how's Rapunzel doing?" Eugene slowly turned his head to face the captain as if he half expected him to stay quiet the entire ride.

"Fine."

"Oh good…Is she adjusting well?"

"Yeeeess."

"Oh good...that's real good" Silence.

"Look, I don't want to seem like the asshole here, but…I know I opened up a lot last time we talked but, this isn't-," Eugene flicked his index finger between himself and James.

"Oh, no, of course just making small talk."

"Right, ok." He really didn't want to push James away. Eugene knew that James was a good man, and would be lucky to have him on his side as a friend, but Eugene was not ready to be "pals" with his former arch enemy. James was a real dick to him the last few years, and Eugene wasn't ready to push all that to the side yet just because of one heart-to-heart conversation over a one-time beer. The rest of the ride was ridden in silence.

James was a little hurt by Eugene's comment. He wasn't expecting a full blown bromance with the kid, he just though they could start to try and put everything behind them and start over. After all, if Eugene was going to be king someday, they might as well start to get along now. But James could see it from his point of view. Eugene wasn't very trusting with many people and James was lucky to get this far. He really did want to see Eugene succeed in life. It was just hard to look at him as anything but a lying, cheating, and thieving scoundrel, because that is what he had been for so many years chasing him around. Old habits just seem to die hard is all.

They finally made their way to the mossy, vine covered, cave entrance. They walked their horses through the veil of vines. James looked through and saw the giant tower still standing quiet erect. They both stopped their horses and dismounted just as they walked through the other side of the cave. Eugene turned to look at James. He saw almost a look of fear in his eyes.

"Didn't think it would be this easy to find?" He turned to face Eugene

"I have been here before."

"What?"

"Yes, I remember this place, the tower, we built this place, well part of it."

"What are you saying? What happened?"

"It was so long ago, we were ordered to start building here. No one really knew what for, but supposedly the project was abandoned long ago. I didn't know it was finished. I had forgotten all about it."

"Who ordered you to build it?" James stared at Eugene, eyes wide.

"The king." Both stood there in silence for a moment not knowing what to say or do next. Eugene took a minute to reprocess everything that was just said. Eugene shifted his eyes to the ground as if the answer would pop up from the ground somewhere.

"He… he didn't say why he wanted to build it?"

"All he said was that he had some plans for expansion; he didn't go into detail about it. But then all of a sudden he ordered us to stop, that the plans had flopped."

"How long ago was this?" James blew his cheeks out and raised his eye brows as he thought.

"Oh, I don't know." He scratched his head as he thought harder. "I think it was about…twenty, twenty-one years ago."

"Oh, God. This tower was built for Rapunzel."

"You really don't think that the king had this built for her…do you?"

Eugene looked James dead in the eye. "Now, I'm not sure of anything anymore." They both took a deep breath.

"Shit's just getting deeper and deeper."

"Well, we came all this way to check this place out, we might as well fulfill what we came out here for," With that, James slapped Eugene on the back to urge him forward. As James walked up to the tower, he realized there was a big problem. "How the hell did you get up here, Rider?" He looked to see Eugene was walking toward the back of the tower. James followed. He was lead to what looked like a giant hole in the wall with a set of stairs leading into darkness.

"Back door." Eugene held his hand out to present the entrance. "Lady's first." James scowled at him as Eugene gave back one of his winning smolders. Just as Eugene was about to follow up he noticed something that looked carved, no burned into one of the base stones. He bent down to take a look at it. It was a symbol. The same symbol he had seen before on the that man's ring…oh what was his name..Greg, no Grigor… Grigor something. He would find out the name again later, but one thing he did know, he knew he was in over his head. With one last look at the cross burned into the stone, Eugene started his way up the winding stairs into the tower.

James pulled himself up through the floor of the tower and brushed himself off from the dust. When he looked up he noticed what seemed like a battle scene had taken place; broken glass, a rusted chain, long chocolate brown hair the snaked around the small room, a rusty knife on the ground, wait was that rust? He walked over to it and picked it up to inspect it. Eugene had finally made his way in. James turned around and saw Eugene standing there looking at everything, but in a completely different way.

"You were here when all this happened?" Eugene slowly nodded his head. "What happened?" Eugene only stared at one spot on the ground, eyes fixed and not moving. He stood there leaning against Rapunzel's closet, arms crossed across his chest. James looked in the same direction. It was right by the banister, where the chain was wrapped around, and one end of the snaking hair. James walked over to the area where Eugene, so intently, stared at. When he inspected the area he noticed one large, dark spot on the floor. It looked more like a reddish brown, faded in the dust.

"This looks like blood." He turned back to Eugene who hadn't moved. "This isn't from Rapunzel…" Eugene didn't say a word. "This is from you?" Eugene's eyes finally broke their gaze and darted to the left. "But with the amount here you should have.." He didn't have to finish. It was almost like James was inside Eugene's head. "But how did you-?"

"I don't know, I never asked Rapunzel, and quite frankly, I am a little scared to know. I cut her hair before she could do anything to heal me. So naturally she shouldn't have had any more power."

James had so many questions but decided on only one. "Why didn't you let her heal you?" Eugene paused for a minute before answering.

"Because she made a promise." Still confused, James just decided to let the situation go. They both started looking around, for what, neither of them was sure. Eugene was in Gothel's room. Looking for another symbol, a sign, a note, anything that would help him connect the many dots that were forming in his head creating an abstract picture. James was looking everywhere else. He wasn't much help to this mission, even though it was originally his idea. James was just so fascinated by how Rapunzel had lived. She hadn't had it that bad, in a physical state that is. She had a room with a warm dry bed, there was clearly food in the tower judging by the many cooking utensils, pot and pans, and the tower seemed to have kept dry. He started looking at her murals. He was amazed by them. _'How did she get up to the ceiling,'_ he thought. She had painted her entire life on these walls. James immediately recognized the one above the fireplace. It wasn't very well defined but he could tell that it was Rapunzel with her long golden hair gazing up at a night sky watching the Festival of Lights from a distance. It nearly broke his heart; it was a story of Rapunzel's life, and to him, it was a sad one. He just couldn't believe how anyone could take someone like her and lock them away for life as if they were a criminal to society.

"Hey, did you find anything?" James continued to looking up at the murals.

"Uh…no I didn't. Did you?" Eugene shook his head.

"Let's get out of here, this place creeps me out."

* * *

In the dark, a hooded figure moved quickly and swiftly in and out through the night crowds. In between buildings, he hid in the shadows as the hooded figure made his way to his destination. He came to a dark alley way and started to climb up. Carefully the hooded figure jumped from rafter to rafter above the streets and narrow alleys. As he moved, he looked below. People passed by and all are none the wiser to his presence. The hooded figure came to an old abandoned building, the windows were boarded up and there were birds nest in a few of the sills. The hood figure climbed up to the top and walked to the pigeon coup sitting on top. Three pigeons perched in the coup as they cooed back and forth to each other. The hooded figure pulled out a small rolled up scroll.

'_I need your help, come quick.'_

He opened the small door and stuck his hand in signaling to one of pigeons to perch on his hand. The hooded figure tied the small scroll to one of the legs on the pigeon. He walked over toward the edge of the roof and let the pigeon free. He watched as the pigeon flew to its destination until it disappeared into the night.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Another week went by since Eugene and the captain went to the tower. Eugene hadn't even told Rapunzel about it, and she never suspected anything. And why should she; he wasn't doing anything that would harm her. At least he hoped it wouldn't. He didn't want to tell Rapunzel anything until he had cold hard facts about what he was investigating. Her mind would just wonder and she would start forming her own theories. That was the last thing he wanted for her. She didn't need to be bothered until the time was crucial. She had enough on her plate to worry about with her tutoring, princess lessons, and just learning how to fit in with society, at least her "type" of society (royals). Things were coming along for her pretty well. But trying to cram what normal princesses learn in their first 18 years of life, Rapunzel had to learn all of that in just a fraction of the time, was proving itself to be quite a challenge.

Eugene was training the men to finally scale buildings. Talk about a challenge. He has never met so many grown men so terrified of a little height. And they were supposed to be Corona's finest?

"Come on, Conli, I haven't got all day. Give me your hand and I will pull you up." Eugene was crouched down holding his hand out to Conli. Corporal Conli was clinging to the side of a small shed. Eugene figured it would be better to slowly work the men's way up and start them off on something small, then work their way up to the top of the palace

"No! Just….just go on without me."

"Conli, seriously, you're barely five feet off the ground. Just keep your eyes on me and give me your hand."

"I can't!" He sounded like he was on verge of tears as his voice quivered.

"Oooh my God. Give me your fuckin' hand!" A shaky hand slowly reached Eugene's. "Ok keep your eyes on me DON'T you dare look down." Conli kept his gaze glued on Eugene. "Ok now move your left foot and place it on the window sill and push yourself up." Conli did what he was told. "Good now you are going to move your hand, NOT the one I'm holding, and you are going to move it to the ledge of the roof." Conli obeyed. Unfortunately his foot slipped off the ledge and, oh boy, did Conli loose it. He was no longer standing on anything and was only being held by Eugene. Eugene tried to keep Conli from pull them both down off the 8 foot shed.

"AHHHH! SSSARGENT! I'M FALLING!"

"CONLI, CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"

"DON'T LET ME FALL, DON'T LET ME FALL!"

"STOP KICKING YOU LEGS OR YOU'RE GONNA MAKE US BOTH FALL!"

Unfortunately, despite Eugene's best efforts to pull Conli to safety, he grabbed Eugene's arm with his other hand, and instead of pulling himself up, he ended up knocking Eugene off balance due to his relentless kicking and squirming resulting in both of them falling from the roof and landing with a hard thud to the ground. Conli landed feet, butt, back, however, was fine for the most part. Eugene, on the other hand, landed on his left shoulder causing it to dislocate.

"OOWWW! Mother fucker!" Eugene clutched his injured shoulder trying not to move too much. Conli rolled to his stomach and looked forward at his sergeant.

"You ok, Sargent?"

"Do I fucking look like I'm ok?!" Conli wasn't sure what to say. After a minute to consider a proper response, all he could think of was, "Sorry, Sargent." Conli was conveniently positioned to be right were Eugene's foot was. He looked down and nailed Conli square in the face with his heal.

* * *

"I told you climbing like that was dangerous. People should be on solid ground as intended." Queen Elizabeth scolded Eugene all the way to the doctor's and all during his visit as he sat on the doctor's operating table. Eugene fought with every fiber of his being not to roll his eyes at her. "If people were meant to go any higher we would have been born with wings." Eugene just stared straight forward. "Eugene, are you listening to me?" He let head flop in Elizabeth's direction with a blank expression.

"Yes, mother." He blinked his eyes a few times and was monotone. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"I may just be a future mother-in-law to you, but I have every right to restrict you to your room." Eugene let out a giggle.

"Elizabeth, it's gonna take more than just a mere grounding to keep me from getting out." Elizabeth shook her head with a disappointed look, arms crossed.

"Ok Eugene, hold still this may hurt a little." Doctor Menken stood on Eugene's left side; he placed his left hand at Eugene's collar bone and placed his right hand on the back of his shoulder.

"Wait, aren't you gonna-" Crack! Doctor Menken pushed hard and fast to pop Eugene's shoulder back in place.

"AHHHH!"

"Ok one more." Snap!

"Son of a…. mother….." Eugene tried not to curse in front of the queen as he gritted his teeth through the pain. He tried leaning forward to grab his shoulder, but the doctor's menacing hands kept him from doing so. Elizabeth tried to sooth him by rubbing his back. She gave him a sympathetic look but Eugene didn't notice. Eugene kept trying to roll his shoulder to relieve the pain and free himself from Doctor Menken.

"Hold still." But every poke and prod only caused Eugene to try to wiggle out of the doctor's clutches. Doctor Menken only got annoyed by Eugene's silent protesting and jerked his shoulder causing pain to shoot through his whole left side. Eugene's voice went up an octave as he yelped.

"Then sit still. Good Lord, Son, you move around as much as my ten year does." Eugene just shot him a dirty look, but said nothing and kept still. Doctor Menken continued his examination on Eugene's shoulder until he was satisfied that everything set back into place correctly.

"Ok, I am going to give you a sling and I want you to actually use it, is that understood?" Eugene gave him the same blank stare he gave to Elizabeth. "Eugene." Doctor Menken's tone was a bit harsher this time.

"I got it."

"Good, now onto my next patient." He turned to Conli behind him who has been keeping an ice bag on the left side of his face quietly waiting on another operating table. "So Conli, tell me again, how did you manage to fall and get that half-moon bruise around your eye?"

Conli looked to Eugene who was shooting daggers at him with his eyes, signaling him not to say a word. "I um, fell on a… rock."

"Huh, interesting. Well that's unfortunate." Doctor Menken eyed Eugene as he walked back to him to put his arm in a sling. Eugene just stared right back at Doctor Menken as if he had nothing to hide. "Eugene I don't want you to use that arm. Keep it in the sling, and why don't you take the day off, maybe a week or so. It wasn't that bad of an injury, so you should be back to climbing like a monkey no time."

Before Eugene had any time to get a word in Elizabeth spoke up. "He will take two weeks off if I have anything to do about it, and how about we come back next week for a check-up, Doctor Menken."

"That sounds perfect I was actually going to suggest that. How does next Thursday sound? That will give him a whole week to recover" Eugene looked at the two conversing.

"Um...am I not here?"

"Oh that sounds perfect"

"Really, I can speak for myself"

"Hush darling." Elizabeth patted Eugene's hand. Eugene was taken aback by this sort of…treatment. "May we come at 2'oclock?"

"Certainly, I will put you in my books right now." Doctor Menken walked over to his desk and pulled out his appointment book and flipped through the pages.

"Hello, I can take care of this myself, thank you."

"Oh Eugene we all know you won't. The minute you are out of our sight it will be back to running, jumping, and climbing anything you can."

"What the hell, I am 26 years old I am not a child."

"Sweetheart don't curse, it's not very becoming of you." Eugene looked at her sideways again. He held out his and to shake hers.

"Hi, I'm Eugene Fitzherebert, have we met?" Elizabeth just smiled and shook her head.

"I understand your frustration, but I have been robbed of eighteen years of being a mother and now I have two children to tend to, can please just humor me?"

Eugene groaned "Fine."

"Thank you, darling" She kissed his cheek.

Eugene hopped down off the operating table instantly regretting it as sharp pain shot through his arm. Refusing to be coddled any longer he just tightened his jaw and showed no emotion to his pain. As they both walked out of the doctor's office Elizabeth reconfirmed their appointment and waved him goodbye.

Once they were both back at the palace Elizabeth commanded Eugene to go straight to his room and get into bed.

"I will send Rapunzel up to your room and she can take care of you the rest of the time. I am sure you will enjoy that more than me coddling and mothering you."

She winked at him, and without waiting for a response she walked off leaving him trusting he would do as he was told, which he did. He figured if the queen was going to trust him with Rapunzel alone in his bedroom he figured he should go up to his room without a fuss. He felt a little guilty pitching a fit about being "babied." All she wanted was to be a mother, was that so much to ask for? Oh well, he didn't really have mother growing up, so it was kind of nice to have that type of attention, but of course he would never admit that to anyone.

Eugene got into his room and shut the door behind him taking in a deep breath. He walked over to his bed and pulled one boot off with the toe of with other boot. A knock was at the door. The knocks sounded pretty rapid, and so he knew who it was.

"It's open!" Rapunzel came bounding in through the door. "Hi Blondie." He greeted her with a smile as she stole a kiss.

"Hi, how's your arm?"

"It's still attached."

"Well that's good. I brought you some stuff. I brought a cold pack and some soup." She set them both on the night stand next to Eugene's bed.

"What's the soup for?"

"To make you feel better."

"Blondie, I have a dislocated shoulder, not a fever."

She just shrugged her shoulders, and he smiled at her shaking his head. Realizing he still had only on boot on, he proceeded to pull of the other in the same manner as the first but with more difficulty. He finally got it off but not without losing his balance again and knocking the table causing the cold pack and hot bowl of soup crashing to the floor. Rapunzel quickly jumped to make sure her bare feet weren't singed by the hot liquid. Eugene just stood there head hung. Rapunzel looked at him sympathetically.

"Oh honey it's ok. Here, I'll help you into bed." Eugene hated feeling helpless and vulnerable.

Rapunzel pull back the covers as he climbed in careful not to move his left arm. She carefully pulled the covers over him. "I'll get someone to clean this up. You just relax and I'll be right back."

Before Rapunzel could walk away he grabbed her hand and brought it up for a gentle kiss. She smiled at him and sat down with him on the side of the bed. She caressed his cheek. Eugene stared at her for a moment.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Rapunzel gave him a quizzical look.

"For what?"

"For everything."

"Eugene, it's just soup." Eugene smiled.

"That wasn't quite what I was talking about."

"I know." She smiled at him. "Eugene you have put up with all my craziness, the least I can do is take care of you when you are hurt or sick. You know a lot of people have been trying to…discourage me from being with you."

"Ya don't say." He had a goofy look on his face that made Rapunzel laugh.

"I know you know but, it's what they say that you don't know."

"Like what?"

"Well, things like I shouldn't fall for the first man I meet, and I should be with "my own kind", whatever that means."

"I am pretty sure they are talking about you marrying a prince."

"But you are a prince, well almost."

"No, Blondie, I mean like someone who was born into royalty."

"Oh, well, I don't want to."

"Yeah but that's typically traditional, I guess. I don't think you want to go that route though anyways."

"Why not?"

"Well… generally, not all the time, but most of the time when royals marry, they tend to be the same family, like siblings or cousins, and not the distant twice removed from your mother's uncle type cousin." Rapunzel looked confused. "Just trust me it's not what you want."

"Well my point is… people think that I don't know what I want. People think that just because I was locked away for most of my life that I'm an idiot and I don't know bad people when I see them and I need my hand held all the time. But you, you don't do that to me. You let me be me, and you accept me and my quirkiness, and you certainly don't take me for someone who is stupid. And I guess what I am trying to say is, I should be thanking you for all of that. I realize that I can act like a child sometimes, I see that, and people look at me weird for it because I have discovered something new. For me it's new, but to everyone else they can't remember a time when that wasn't around. You know what I mean.

"I think so."

"Well you just don't do those things to me, and I feel so comfortable around you and… I love that about you."

Eugene cupped her chin and gave her a passionate kiss, one that lingered. He pulled away and looked into her eyes still cupping her chin.

"Sweetheart, you have no idea what you have done for me-"

"I know, but you always seem to show me…how…grateful you are. I don't feel I have been doing that lately. And now is my chance, even though it's not very good circumstances." Eugene smiled.

"Well, thank you, Blondie." They shared one more kiss. When they pulled away Rapunzel was drawn again to the mess that once was her soup on the floor and sighed.

"I am gonna go find someone to clean that up."

"Ok, have fun."

When Rapunzel left he took a deep breath and leaned his head back on the mound of pillows behind him. He thought about what she said to him, and he suddenly grew a knot in his stomach. He wasn't sure why at first, but he thought about everything that he was keeping from her. He didn't know why he felt guilty about it. He was protecting her, right? Then he came to the obvious realization that it was because he was simply not telling her…about anything. It was like he had this secret life all over again. He couldn't help it. He didn't mean for it to go like this. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell her, or if there was really anything to tell. Oh who was he kidding; of course there was something to tell! The tower, the symbols he had been finding, that black book the king had been keeping secret…oh shit…that stupid black book. He almost forgot about it. He still has to check that out. He wasn't a hundred percent sure, but he was pretty sure that that black book was going to tell him, if not everything, enough information about what actually happened all those years ago. Eugene wished he never laid eyes on it. Now he can't, not see it. How was he going to tell Rapunzel about any of this? Eugene decided that he was going to tell her right after he finds out whatever is in that book. Whether or not it is useful, whether or not it pertained to her disappearance, he had to come clean with what he had been doing. He was tired of keeping things from her. He just needed to figure out when he was going to go after that book. It was quite difficult getting around with just one arm, and he was pretty sure he was going to need the use of both his hand to pick the lock of the king's office. Eugene decided he would get that book in one week.

Rapunzel finally came back with a new bowl of soup and a new cold compact. She helped him out of his shirt with only a wince or two as she did her best to carefully slip it off. He held the compact to his shoulder as Rapunzel placed the tray of hot soup on his lap.

"Would you like me to feed it to you?"

"No, God no."

"Why not?"

"I hate, with a passion, being spoon fed like a baby."

"Oh it's not that bad."

"It is for me, I'll die. You will kill me if you do if you spoon feed me."

"Oh Eugene don't be so dramatic."

"No, you don't understand." Rapunzel just rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I won't spoon feed you."

"Thank you."

Suddenly the captain showed up through the door.

"There you are, were the hell have you been all day?"

"Well, hello to you too, Top."

"Rider I swear if you are skipping out on work again-"

"Easy, Top, easy. I dislocated my shoulder."

"Oh."

Rapunzel got up from the bed. "I think I will leave you two alone."

"No it's ok you don't-" Rapunzel shot Eugene a wink and blew him a kiss before she left the room. Eugene looked back at James with his eyes narrowed and pointed his index finger at him.

"I really hate you right now."

"Look I'm sorry, but I have been searching all over for you."

"Why, what's going on?"

"I am not sure but I overheard some people talking." James's voice was hushed. Eugene gave him a questioning look.

"What are you talking about, who?"

"I don't know, they were whispering, I couldn't even see them but they were talking about that book."

"Daniel's book?" James slowly nodded. "What were they saying about it?"

"It was hard to hear, but I overheard them in one of the conference rooms saying how they needed to get rid of it. How you were asking too many questions. Rider, you need to get your hand on that book before it disappears."

"I know, I know, but it's been a little difficult."

"Are you going to be able to do anything with that banged up shoulder of yours?"

"I'm gonna have to, I don't really have a choice."

"What if I help you?"

"No, it's easier if I just do it myself. There will be less of a chance of getting caught."

"Well I work the night guard shift tonight. Meet me out in the stables around one with it once you get it."

"Alirght." James started walking toward the door, but then turned around for a second.

"Hey Rider."

"Yeah?"

"Be careful." Eugene nodded his head and the captain left and shut his door.

Eugene looked down at his soup, it was no longer steaming. He wasn't hungry in the first place. He set the bowl on the nightstand and set the tray on the ground next to the bed. "Oh it's gonna be a long night…again." With that he nestled down under the blankets and tried to make himself go to sleep. Instead of thinking about the book, he thought about Rapunzel. He thought about her green sparkling eyes, her laugh, her smile and the way she smiled at him. It was a special kind of smile that she only did with him. Eventually he found sleep, and dreamed about their past adventures.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Eugene woke with a start. He heard the clanking of the guards' armor right outside his door as they walked by. He looked outside his window, and by judging how high the moon was he could tell it was well after midnight. He took his pocket watch off the nightstand to confirm his prediction; it was 1:30 am. _'Shit,_' he thought. He was supposed to have met up with the captain by now. Eugene rubbed his eyes but as he moved his shoulder he remember that he had dislocated it not even 24 hours earlier. He groaned and grabbed his shoulder. How was he supposed to do anything that involved stealth without the use of his left shoulder? He was left handed as well, so it was going to make everything twice as hard. Eugene took a few deep breaths as the pain subsided. He was going to have to suck it up; besides he has been through worse pain, he told himself.

Eugene slowly go out of bed, his shirt was still on the floor from the day before when Rapunzel helped take it off of him. He slowly slipped it on, and buttoned it up half way, slipped his boots on, and made sure he had his lock picking tools with him. Despite what the doctor said, he kept the sling off; it was going to be more of a hassle than anything else. He opened his door and looked down the hall. There wasn't really anyone around; that wasn't a surprise. He started making his way down the hall and out toward the courtyard where the king's office was. Making sure that there was no one in sight, Eugene carefully stuck to the shadows. This was a rare occasion when Eugene was glad that the guards weren't around actually doing their job, otherwise it would make his job a lot harder. He got up to the front door of the company building. It was locked. He closed his eyes for a minute before getting down on one knee and reaching for his picks. Having to move his shoulder and muscle through the pain was harder than he anticipated. Luckily the lock was easy enough to open. He got up, still with the picks in hand, opened the door, and went in. Quietly shutting the door behind him, he made his eyes adjust to the darkness around him. He forgot; no light at night. He couldn't risk lighting a torch and chance someone seeing him. His eyes adjusted well enough to see the path that led to the stairs toward the king's office. His heart pounded in his ears as he made his way up. He prayed that no one was up there, especially the king, but at the same time hoped he was for the simple fact that he could turn right around and go back. He was terrified to find out what was in that book. After what the captain had told him earlier that day, he was now absolutely sure that whatever was in that book, definitely had to do with Rapunzel's kidnapping, and he was afraid to know just how deep the king really was. He made it up the steps and sure enough, there was no one there. He walked up to the door and jiggled the handle, once again, locked. Eugene cursed under his breath. Again he got down on his knee and picked the lock, biting back a groan. He exhaled grabbing his shoulder, and waited for the pain to recede. He got up, opened the door, and walked it. The office was dark as well, apart from for the window that was letting in the moonlight. He walked up to the desk and saw the oil lamp siting there. He quickly looked through all the drawers until he found a small box of matches. Eugene was about to strike it when he decided to close the curtains first. He tried to close them all the way but they were heavy and using only one arm was not cutting it. It was going to have to work for now. He struck the match and lit the lamp making sure the light was low

Eugene turned to find the same picture frame he once saw King Daniel removed to find a safe hidden in the wall. Eugene moved the picture and placed it on the desk. It was a combination lock. He stared at it for a moment. The good thing was he only need one hand to do this, the bad thing was they tended to take longer to crack open. He got up close. Eugene put his ear up close to the lock as he turned it to hear the clicks. It took him a few tries, but he managed to crack it open. He slowly opened the safe. Once inside, he saw it. The black book he had been trying to get his hands on for weeks, and now it is here for him to take and pop open the front page. But now that it is here, he was sure if he wanted to. His hands were shaking, and his heart was pounding, but he needed to make a move before it was too late. He took the book out. The captain said he had wanted to see it, but decided to look it over to see for himself. He closed the safe and replaced the picture. Eugene brought it over to the desk and brought the oil lamp closer so he could read it better. He sat down and flipped open the front cover. There, on the first page was the Declaration of War that fell out. He read it; it was from a kingdom he had never heard before. It said the reason for the declaration was for owning money, a large sum of money. But Eugene didn't ever remember the king borrowing money, unless…..Eugene looked at the date. It was for exactly twenty-two years ago. Eugene kept that in the back of his mind and pressed on. There was a bunch of loose paper, what looked like to be letters. One in specific caught his eye. It had a familiar name on it, _Gothel_. The name repeated in his head over and over. He read the letter over as quickly as his eyes would move. He came upon one sentence that made his blood turn cold.

_You know the deal, my daughter in return for the flower to save my wife. _

Wait, what! He bargained his unborn child to save his wife?! Well he couldn't really blame him for that completely, but there had to be better way than to trade his daughter's life for his wife's. He pressed on to find out more information. As Eugene rustled through the old papers, he noticed one that had something very large and red one it. He froze for a second staring at it. It was the same red cross he had seen, on Gregor's ring, and now on Rapunzel's tower. He was about to look more through the papers until suddenly, he heard someone walking toward the door. Eugene held his breath, then quickly put everything back into the book and was about to put it back into the safe but realized his idiot self already shut it. That's when his foot kicked something on the desk that made a clunk noise. 'Thank you Daniel'. Eugene remembered the broken board on the bottom of the desk. He was able to hide the book inside were the broken panel was, right underneath where all the side drawers were. He was just about to move somewhere to hide when he stood up, and the door suddenly opened. Eugene stood stagnant.

Daniel walked in. He didn't notice Eugene at first. Daniel was…off. He stumbled into the door of his office rather than walked in, and there was a half empty bottle of rum in his hand. When he fell into the bookcase next to the door he looked up and saw Eugene standing there. Daniel eyes were red. Eugene couldn't tell if that was because of the rum, crying, or both. They locked on each other's gazes for a moment, and then Daniel spoke.

"Judging from the look on you face, I take it you know some things that you probably shouldn't." Eugene didn't respond. Daniel continued to walk toward a table that had more assortments of liquors. Eugene's gaze never left the king as Daniel made his way for another drink. "Do you want a drink?" Eugene slowly, almost hesitantly shook his head. "Ya know, I told you to just leave it alone. Why couldn't you just leave it… ALONE?!" Daniel's pounded the table which made Eugene jump.

"Daniel, do you have any idea what you have done?"

"I know, I was there!" Daniel was flailing his arms around himself to try to prove his point with a bottle of liquor still in his hand.

"No Daniel, this thing, this…runs so much deeper than what you can see." Eugene's voice started to quiver slightly

"YOU DON'T THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!" The king was belligerent.

"I don't think you do." His volume rose.

"What do you know? You train a few men and you think you know everything."

"I know the kind of people you are dealing with!"

"You're a kid, Eugene! You know nothing! Do you have any idea what it is like…" Daniel eyes were watering; there was a sob in his throat that he fought to keep down. "To look at your wife…everyday…for eighteen years…and tell her…that your daughter…your only child…is gone, when in fact…you knew…all along…where…she was. You have no idea…NO IDEA… what that is like!" The tears were now free falling. He couldn't control himself. Daniels emotions were over flowing. "You can't fathom…looking… at your new born child…knowing…that in just…a few hours… you are...no longer… gonna…h…hold… her… and…tell her you love her…and…" His arms came up as if holding an imaginary child to his chest as he sobbed.

"Daniel please, calm down-"

"No! For eighteen years-"

"I know but we can fix this, I can get you out." Eugene started to slowly walk towards the hysterical king. His hands were up slightly showing he was not a threat to the king in a futile attempt to calm him down.

"No…it's too late now-"

"No, it's not you just have to trust me, you have to tell me-", Eugene was nearly in arms-length of Daniel when all of a sudden Daniel lashed out at Eugene with a near empty rum bottle.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Eugene quickly jumped back out of harm's way wide eyed in shock.

Daniel started breathing heavy to get control of his emotions until the sobbing subsided and his head cleared a little. Eugene had never seen Daniel so out of control. It was usually Daniel who kept his emotions in check. Daniel was always the level headed one. Eugene didn't know what to do, so he just stood there and gave Daniel some space to breathe. Once Daniel got his breathing under control, and the sobbing stopped, he leaned against the liquor table. He looked exhausted, and out of breath. Daniel his arm motioning for Eugene to come closer. Eugene hesitated.

"It's ok, come here."

Eugene slowly started making his way back towards Daniel. Daniel embraced Eugene into a hug. Eugene just stood there for a moment, then slowly with his good arm, softly patted the kings back.

"I have always thought of you… as my own son. Because of you, I was able to see my daughter again; even if just for a short while." The last statement threw Eugene off. _'What did that mean?' _

"I want to thank you for bringing me my daughter back, and because you brought my daughter back, I want to say I am so sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

Still holding him in a hug, Daniel drew a blade from his robes and stabbed Eugene in the stomach. Eugene choked on a sharp gasp as he felt the blade pierce through him. The pain was white hot, spreading through his middle and eventually to his chest making it difficult to breathe. It felt like a wild fire was inside him. Eugene's body tensed up. His hands stiffened as they surrounded the handle of the blade not knowing what to do. He couldn't think. The only thing he could focus on was the powerful waves of pain that rippled through his body. Once he was no longer able to withstand the pain, his knees buckled, and groaned in pain. But instead of collapsing to the ground, Daniel held him. He slowly lowered the writhing young man to the ground onto his back cradling his head in his hand.

"I'm so sorry, my boy… I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." Tears once again threatened to over flow in Daniels eyes. He kept repeating "I'm so sorry" in Eugene's ear. He stood up, and with one last look, he backed away and headed towards his desk.

Eugene was in pure agony, and confused. The king was no longer in his line of sight, it didn't matter anyways; his vision was failing him. Then he heard a thump on the ground. He couldn't be sure of what it was. His hand move to where the blade was still embedded into his stomach. His hand shook as it moved. The pain was so intense he wanted to cry out. His breath was short and labored. He needed to remove the blade, it would relieve his pain. With a shaky hand, Eugene gripped the handle of the blade. He took as big of breaths as his failing lungs would allow, and he started to pull up. The pain intensified tenfold. He gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and dug his heel into the carpeted floor as he fought against the pain. This only made him shake worse, and nearly convulse. He moved his other hand to grip on top of his right to give him more leverage, but the blade wouldn't budge. He just didn't have the strength. It only made him release a strangled cry which threw him into a coughing fit. Eugene let go of the blade exhausted. His left hand fell to his side with a thud. His right hand encircled where the blade met his flesh, but it was lifeless. He slowly turned his head toward the door. It was still open. He slowly tried to reach his left hand out toward the door, however, the pain in his injured shoulder, no matter how insignificant compared to the pain in his middle, still restricted his movement. His labored breathing was slower than it was before. Unconsciousness threatened to take hold of him, but he fought it away. Unfortunately, it was a losing battle for him and the darkness ultimately took over. His eyes fluttered as he fought the heaviness of them, but they eventually rolled back as they closed. The last thoughts that Eugene could remember were of Rapunzel, _'Oh God, no, I can't…leave…Rapun…'_ His thoughts were no more, only darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Out in the courtyard, Corporal Conli was leaning against his post. He poked at his swollen eye. It had turned a purplish, blue color, and was tender at the touch. Luckily, it wasn't too swollen that he couldn't see out of it. Conli felt guilty for causing his sergeant's injury. He told himself that next he would round up all his courage and climb to the top of that damned shed.

Conli's thoughts were suddenly broken by what he thought sounded like yelling in the distance. He looked up and turned into the direction of where he thought he heard it. He looked around but no one was there. The yelling sounded like it was far away. He started to walk around his appointed area where he was pulling guard. That was when he finally noticed up in the window, there was a very dim light through the window of the king's office. It was hard to see, but it was there. He thought it was strange so he decided to check it out. He wasn't supposed to leave his post until someone relieved him, but he figured this took precedence. Once he reached the door to the company building, Conli turned the handle. It was unlocked, so for sure there was someone up there. He let himself in and headed toward the stairs that led up to King Daniel's office. He had an uneasy feeling but he just brushed it aside writing it off as just his nerves getting to him. He reached the top of the steps and walked down the hall. He noticed that the door was partially open and that there was a low light coming from it. He pushed the door lightly with his left hand. The sight almost made him sick to his stomach. Eugene laid in a pool of blood, and the king, oh God, the king lay face down motionless.

"What in God's name?"

Conli ran out immediately.

"CAPTAIN! CAAAPTAAIN!"

Captain James was walking back to his post from the stables. 'Where the hell is that kid?' Eugene was supposed to have met up with him hours ago. Here it was two and a half hours later and still no sign of Eugene.

"I swear when I get my hands on that boy-"

"CAAAPTAAIN!"

James's head shot up instantly. He looked up and squinted his eyes to focus better in the dark. He saw Conli at the front door to the company building, his arm flailing about, motioning him to come towards him, and fast. James had a bad feeling that suddenly rose up. James quickened his pace and then ascended into a flat out run. By the time he got to the front door of the company, he was completely out of breath. 'Maybe Rider was right, I do need to run more.' He quickly pushed the random thought out of his head. He ran up the stairs, down the hall, and to the king's office. When he got to the door he stopped himself by grabbing both sides of the door frame to keep himself from falling forward at the sight of the scene that was laid out in front of him. Eugene, bloodied with a blade in his stomach, and Conli had the king rolled over on his back trying to wake him up. James didn't know where to start. He ran to Eugene. The carpet was soaked with blood.

"Rider… Rider can you hear me?" He gave him a slight shake, but there was no answer. "Is…is the king alive?

"Uh.."

"CONLI! IS THE KING ALIVE!"

"I…I don't know. He won't answer."

"Is he breathing, does he have a heartbeat, something?"

Conli bent down and listened on the king's chest, there was nothing.

"Oh, God….oh, God, the king is dead, he's DEAD SIR!"

"Shit!" James was panicked. He looked back at Eugene who was ghostly pale; he didn't look as if he was alive either. He leaned over to put his ear to his chest. James could hear the slow labored wheezing from Eugene's chest. James inhaled sharply and shot up.

"Conli, go get some men to bring a litter, and go get the doctor. NOW!" Coni shot up like a cannon and bolted as fast as he could out of the room. He only hoped that all of Eugene's training getting the men in shape would finally pay off.

"Rider…Rider if you can hear me open your eyes." He waited. He heard a slight gasp as Eugene's head started to try to roll to the other side. He quickly cupped the back of Eugene's head, and lifted it off the floor to face him. His eyes started to flutter open but only slightly.

"Hold on, Kid, just hold on, stay with me, you're gonna be ok, just keep breathing." But he couldn't. Eugene's eyes closed as he exhaled. His chest didn't rise again.

"No…no! Damn it, Rider, no don't do this!" James laid his head back down. He pushed Eugene's jaw down to slightly open his mouth and breathed into him. Eugene's chest rose as air flowed through. James placed his hands on top of one another and pumped hard several times on Eugene's chest.

"Come on, Rider, come on."

Again, he breathed into him to try and give him air, and again he compressed his chest.

"Breathe damn it, breathe!"

A third time he tried. James was feeling winded himself trying to bring Eugene back, but he couldn't stop, not now. Eugene's head rolled to the side as James continued the chest compressions.

"Damn it, Rider, don't you dare give up on me!"

He stopped for a minute; he didn't know what else to do. Suddenly, something wild popped into his head. He wasn't sure if it would work but he thought he would give it a try. James raised his fist and pounded hard on top of Eugene chest, right were his heart was. Eugene's body jolted from the blow. James continued the chest compressions. He wasn't really sure what he was doing at this point, but it was better than sitting there doing nothing. He tried it one more time. Once again Eugene's body jerked. The second time he swore either he broke his hand or he cracked Eugene's sternum, either way he wasn't sure. After the chest compressions, Eugene was still motionless. James breathed one more time into him. He finally took a breath and started coughing. James rolled Eugene towards himself on his side as he coughed up blood. He tore a piece of his sleeve off to wipe away the blood from Eugene's mouth, and rolled him back over.

"Jesus, Kid, who the hell did this to you." Eugene wasn't responsive, but he was breathing, and he was alive, that was all that mattered.

What seemed like hours ago were only mere minutes that Conli left to get help. Six men suddenly came up through the door with a litter. James looked at them. He recognized them all; they were all part of Eugene's old squad. They looked bigger, they almost looked like they aged, but in a good way. They actually looked like full grown men. Lenny was about to grab for the blade that was still in Eugene, but James reached out to stop him.

"No, not yet, let the doctor do that."

Another group of six men came not to long after the first with another litter. They were the other half of Eugene's squad. They had the same look; big, muscular, more…manly. 'Damn, Kid, you really have been training these guys.' James figuratively slapped the random thought out of his head. Both men were carefully placed on litters and quickly carried out. James stood in the middle of the room. What once surrounded him by total chaos was now replaced by complete silence. He looked at everything around him in the room. The large blood stain on the carpet, the spilled liquor on the table, and, something on the ground; what was that? He bent down to pick it up, it look like a small dart of some sort. He examined it closer. There was a small symbol on it. One he had never seen before. It looked like the letter 'A', no, a triangle, not quite. Two sides did come together at the top to form a triangle but the bottom part was round, and they did not meet in the middle. He decided to hold on to it. It might come in handy later. He looked around for where it may have come from. He saw a small hole through the window in between where the curtains had been partially closed. James inspected the hole. Cracks surrounded the hole through the glass. He looked down and there was broken glass on the ground. He looked up through the window. He covered eyes slightly to remove his reflection so he could look out, but he saw no one. He put the dart in his pocket for safe keeping. James had no idea what had happened, and the only one that could tell him was now fighting for his life.

* * *

Rapunzel was sitting in a chair in front of Eugene's door. She was nervously playing with the seams of her night shirt. Her worst fears had come true. She was losing Eugene all over again, and by whose hand she could not guess. Her father was already gone, her mother was all but lost to her by grief, and now she was losing Eugene. Tears were streaming down her face. What she wouldn't give just to have her long golden hair back just this once. All she could do now was sit on the other side of a closed door and wait. There was nothing she could do.

The door to Eugene's room slowly opened. Rapunzel looked anxiously at who was coming out. Captain James slowly came out. The look on Rapunzel's face nearly made James break down. She looked helpless, so hopeless, and her world was crumbling right in front of her. Rapunzel stood up, ran to James, and cried into his chest. This made James swallow hard trying not to cry. He had to be strong for her. She had no one else. He held her tight and tried his best to console her.

"Hey, it's gonna be ok, he's gonna make it." He lifted her chin gently with his fingers. "Hey, he will make it."

"Wha…what happened?"

"I don't know Princess. Where's your mother?"

"In her room…Daddy's-"

"I know…I know." He embraced her again in a tight secure hug.

"James, what are we gonna do?" He had no idea. "The kingdom, we have to-"

"Don't you worry about the kingdom right now, Princess. You let me handle that and everything will all be taken care of." He wasn't sure if he should tell Rapunzel anything yet. He was positive Eugene hadn't said a word to Rapunzel about what was going on. He figured, if worst comes to worst, he would have to be the one to tell her, but he prayed that he wouldn't have to take that role.

A few hours had passed; the sun was starting to rise, and still no sign of Eugene's condition. Muffled voices could be heard on the other side of the large door, but that was it. Captain James came back from the kitchen with a platter with some bread and some cheeses, some coffee, and a hot tea for Rapunzel. Rapunzel picked up a piece of bread off the tray and nibbled on it as she sipped her tea. She didn't feel like eating much, but her stomach was growling and the hunger pains started kicking in. As for the captain, he eats everything in sight when he is depressed. That might explain the pounds he put on in the last twenty years or so. Finally the door to Eugene's room was pushed open. Doctor Menken walked out. Rapunzel and James had a horrified look on their face when they saw the doctor. Doctor Menken looked down at himself and noticed the problem. He was covered in Eugene's blood.

"Oh! Excuse me for one moment please." He quickly turned around and walked back in the room. A minute later he walked back out with his soiled smock off, drying his hands. There was silence for a moment while Doctor Menken finished wiping up that last bit of soapy water off of his hands.

"Well?" Rapunzel was anxious.

"Well…he is still alive." Both James and Rapunzel released a breath neither of them knew they were holding. "But, for how long I do not know."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Princess, he suffered a severe stab wound to his abdomen. There was organ damage, but nothing I couldn't repair, but he did lose an incredible amount of blood, and he is showing signs of an infection." He waited for all the information to process before he continued. Rapunzel looked down at the ground trying to understand everything the doctor just said. "The good thing is he is young, so we do have that on our side. He is quite the fighter, but honestly he should be dead by now." Rapunzel's head shot up. "Well the amount of blood he lost no doubt is enough to kill any man, but had that knife been pulled out sooner, he would have bled to death a lot sooner. Also you have Captain James to thank for resuscitating him when he did." Rapunzel looked at James, she had no idea he did that. She felt horrible for not knowing and not thanking him. But James just looked at her and smiled.

"Just doing what is best for our kingdom, Princess." No words could describe her gratitude for what James had done for her.

"Well, Princess, if you want to see him you can, but not for very long. I want him to stay in a sterile environment as much as possible."

"Yes, and I should be briefing my men. I know they would like to know what is happening, especially his squad. Thank you Doctor, Rapunzel." But before he could go, she grabbed his arm and threw her arms around his neck and squeezed as hard as her little arms could.

"Thank you." She whispered. Tears ran down her cheeks.

James didn't say anything. He wasn't sure what to say. As their embrace ended, James looked at her and smiled kindly before turning away to brief the troops. Rapunzel looked to her right at the doctor who was holding the door up for her. She gave a weak smile before she walked in.

The room was dark, save for one low lit oil lamp. There were two nurses just finishing up putting a clean blank over Eugene. Rapunzel had spotted the bloodied sheets and towels in a white fabric bag in the corner. One of the nurses noticed Rapunzel's trance and rushed to get it out of the room. It was clear she shouldn't have seen that. Once the nurses were finished with their last minute clean up tasks, they rushed out of the room to give her some privacy.

"We will be just outside the door, Princess; just in case you need anything."

"Thank you." The door softly clicked shut and Rapunzel turned back to the young man on the bed. She slowly walked up to him. Even in the darkness she could tell that he was extremely pale. The blanket came up to his chest. His left shoulder was re-bandaged. '_He must have injured it again.'_ Rapunzel first sat on the bed on his right side. She held his hand. It was so limp in her hand. She was not used to this. Usually, anytime Rapunzel would grab his hand, his would engulf her hand. His hands were strong and warm. She felt safe in his hands. But now, they were weak, and even a little cold. Rapunzel could feel the hot tears in her eyes. She had to be strong, she tried to be strong; but it was hopeless. Rapunzel curled up next him, laid her head on his chest and placed her arm across him holding him tight. Tears now flowed freely.

"Please…..please don't leave me Eugene. You… you promised. You promised…you would stay with me." She cried hard into the blanket. Rapunzel could feel the damp spot as the blanket soaked up her tears. The last time, she was able to save him. He came back to her. She wasn't sure how, the power was gone right? She decided to give it one last try. It was all she could do. She still lay with her head on his chest. Rapunzel took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She slowly sang the incantation.

"Flower…gleam…and glow, let…your power…shine, make…the…clock…reverse...bring back…what once…was…mine. Heal...what has…been hurt, change…the Fates'…design…save…what has…been lost, bring back…what once was mine….what…once…was…mine."

Rapunzel waited anxiously for the bright gold light to appear. But it stayed dark. Nothing changed, nothing reversed. She lay there, waiting, and all she heard was the strenuous wheezing as Eugene tried to breathe and the slow struggling heartbeat that came from his chest.

* * *

At the company, Captain James rubbed his forehead as his men stood in formation. He paced back and forth as he tried to figure out a way to tell his men that their king had departed, and their future prince was hanging in the balance. He looked up, all eyes were on him.

"Men… we have…had a tragedy…occur tonight. A few hours ago, King Daniel…was murdered…and Sgt. Fitzherbert…has been critically wounded." The men started mumbling in hushed tones and looking towards one another. "As far as Sgt. Fitzherbert's condition, they have him heavily sedated. At the moment, Doctor Menken is not sure if he will make it or not." He paused a moment to let everyone comprehend what he was saying. "Let's all give him our prayers. Right now they are trying to figure out how the king was murdered. We have no leads on who the culprit is, nor their location. However, we will start looking and investigating immediately, we will be working in shifts non-stop until we have found our murderer. I want the company to be split up into two groups for tonight. Half of the company will take guard while the other half rests, and we will switch on and off. I want the princess and the queen to be guarded at all times, no matter where they go. I want four guards at each of their doors, and two more at the balcony doors, but please remember to be respectful of their privacy. I want the same for Sgt. Fitzherbert. I also want extra guards at the palace entrance. We will be pulling extra guard duty until told otherwise. None of this is to be spoken of until we know more of what we are dealing with. Is that understood?"

"YES SIR!" They all sounded off in unison. Captain James took a breath.

"Men…we have been hit pretty hard tonight. But we will NOT… give up. Defeat is not an option. We will get through this, and we will come out on top. I know Fitzherbert and I have had our bouts with each other, but he has done a lot for this company, and for this kingdom. Let's all make him and King Daniel proud, keep the royal family safe, keep the kingdom safe, and pray that Fitzherbert comes out of this alive."

James left for their next in command to take over and organize the two groups. He left to go back up to the royal chambers. He needed to see Queen Elizabeth. He had not seen her once since this whole thing had started. As he made his way up to her room he thought about what he would say to her. Unfortunately nothing came to mind. What do you say to someone who had seen as much tragedy as she has?

He walked up to her room and lightly rapped on the door. He could hear the slow patter of the queen's feet. The door opened. Elizabeth looked like she had aged ten years in less than 24 hours. Her hair was a mess, and she had dark circles under her eyes which were red, almost bloodshot from all the crying. There were a few more crease lines in her face that had not been there before. She took one look at James, and completely fell apart. Elizabeth collapsed into him in tears. James caught her, slowly lowered her to the ground, and held her tight and rocked her as she sobbed, but he did not say a word. There were no words. All he could do was hold her. That is when he finally felt himself start to shed a few tears of his own.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The next week was just one long day for everyone. If anyone had gotten sleep, it wasn't much. The queen made a public announcement about the king's passing and Eugene's state. There was still no word on who had actually killed the king, and there were still no clues on what actually happened to Eugene. Due to Doctor Menken's autopsy, they did discover that whoever had killed King Daniel had poisoned him. The doctor had found a small hole, almost as small as a sewing needle, on the side of Daniel's neck. James had shown the small dart to Doctor Menken, which concluded him to the dart tip being poisoned. However, no one knew what the small symbol stood for. The only thing that they could agree upon was that the symbol stood for some radical group.

James looked nonstop for Daniel's black book. He thought maybe there was something in there that would give him a better clue as to what he was dealing with. James had no idea where Eugene had put it. He knew that he had taken it because during the investigation, they discovered the safe hidden behind the picture frame on the wall. Once it was cracked into, the safe was empty. James did not tell a soul about Eugene discovering the black book for fear that, if there was something truly terrible about the king in that book, it would tarnish the kingdom's good name forever. The secrets were kept with one man, and he was not talking anytime soon.

The queen kept to herself for the most part, aside from putting in her decisions for the king's funeral. She was afraid they may have to hold two funerals. She did not like make the arrangements for her husband's funeral while her son-in-law's life hung in the balance. She thought it would bring bad luck. But decisions had to be made and progress need to be moving forward. She wouldn't talk much, and she hardly ate. It was like she was losing touch with reality. Everyone worried about her, even Rapunzel. James did his best to keep a close eye on Elizabeth, but he was stretched so far between keeping the kingdom safe and guarded with his men, investigating, and keeping the kingdom running as if nothing had happened. Though the royal family was in a bad state, there was still the rest of the population that still depended on them. As far as the people were concerned at the moment, it didn't matter who ran the kingdom, just so long as it was kept safe and everything still functioned. But still, someone needed to take the thrown, and Captain James took on this role until someone was ready.

It had been a week and still no change in Eugene's statues. He wasn't getting any worse, but he wasn't getting any better. Rapunzel stayed with him most of the time. Nurses constantly worked in shifts all throughout the day and night frequently monitoring him. Doctor Menken would come in from time to time throughout the day, but it was always the same thing. His heartbeat was still too weak, and his breathing was still labored. His fever still stayed up, but the good thing was it wasn't rising any higher, however, it wasn't lowering either.

"Princess, I have to be honest. Though I am surprised he has made it this far, he isn't improving. I know you don't want to hear this, but…" he tried to figure out a way to put this on her gently. "…I think it is time that you start preparing yourself, you know, mentally and emotionally." Rapunzel just stared at him blankly. "I know it is tough, and I know this probably isn't registering at the moment, but you need to be prepared for the day that he…does pass."

"You think he is dying." Doctor stared at her for a moment.

"Yes."

"Then that's all you need to say. He is not improving and you don't think he will make it." She had absolutely no emotion in her voice. It wasn't sarcastic but it was almost like she was detatched. Doctor Menken was a bit thrown off at her tone. He thought for a minute. He took a breath in and held it for a moment before her asked her,

"Do you understand what I am saying Rapunzel? Because I know you heard me, but I don't know if you completely understand me. Do you have any idea how this might affect you?"

"I heard what you said, and yes I do understand on more levels than you think. I appreciate the concern, but all I need you to do is what you took an oath to do and that is to do everything you can save him. That is all I ask. Now if you will excuse me, I would like to have my visit with him."

Doctor Menken was shocked by Rapunzel's reaction. Has she grown so cold and empty throughout all this chaos that she can no longer feel anything anymore? He wasn't sure what to do, but he needed to keep an extra close watch on Rapunzel.

Honestly, Rapunzel had not grown cold, and she did not lose all touch with her emotions toward Eugene. Rapunzel did care, more than anyone could ever understand. But Rapunzel could hear the whispers said about her; how she constantly cried, how she was so vulnerable, and only a child. She hated being thought of as weak, and most of all, she hated being pitied. It didn't matter what situation she was in, Rapunzel liked to think that she was strong enough to get through it. But as the days went by, and with no change to Eugene's condition, she had started to doubt herself. She would try to keep her tears hidden behind closed doors, but no matter how hard she tried, there was always someone there watching her. They were not just watching her, they would stare at her, with a look of pity, as if they were saying, 'You poor, poor child." It was when she overheard one of the nurses speaking about her in the same manner that Gothel would that made Rapunzel change. The nurse was not being malicious, but she spoke of Rapunzel as if she was a delicate flower, how she would need constant supervision if Eugene had passed, and how unprepared for the outside world Rapunzel was. This nearly made Rapunzel snap. She wanted to scream, to cry, and hit something all at the same time. It was that moment that Rapunzel would never allow herself to show any emotion to anyone. She did not cry, she did not show anger, she would not even smile. She was a cold piece of stone. If Eugene did pass, she wondered if she would ever feel anything again.

The king's funeral was bleak. The weather matched everyone's mood. The whole kingdom arrived for the funeral. Everyone was dressed appropriately, all black, or as dark as they could get. A freshly polished carriage carried their beloved king down Main Street. It was decorated with beautiful carnations and roses. Three horses pulled the carriage down the street. One of them was Max, walking tall and proud. The other, which was the lead horse, was King Daniel's prized Frisian, Felicity. The crowd was lined up along the side of the road holding lit candles and roses as they watched the Coronian Army marched by behind the carriage. The burial ground was at a hill that overlooked the kingdom. It was on the backside of the island. Six pallbearers walked up and removed the casket from the carriage. A slow drum beat was played as they lowered it into the ground, and the church bells rang to let the world know that it had just suffered a great loss. A purple flag with a golden sun covered the top of the casket while the bottom portion was a rich cherry stained wood, hand crafted by Corona's finest carpenters. Queen Elizabeth sat in a chair as she watched her late husband, and her best friend, leave her forever. She wore a long black dress, and had a black head piece with a short black veil covering her face. Tear steaks stained her face. She dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief. Rapunzel stood next to her dressed in a similar manner minus the black veil. But there were no tears in her eyes, not even a quiver of her chin. She stood like a stone statue, unmoving. She was lost in her own thoughts. She thought of Eugene, who still lay unmoving in his bed. She was afraid she was going to be here again, but she couldn't let herself think like that. She had to stay strong. She had to build a wall; a wall that no one, not even her mother could get past. The only person who could come close was not with her. He should be there with her, holding her hand. She needed him. He was her rock. Without him, she was hollow and empty, and it looked like it would stay that way.

It was time to place the roses in the freshly dug grave. Elizabeth went first. She walked slowly with Captain James by her side. He was dressed in his finest dress uniform. His boots were freshly shined and his uniform was neatly pressed. Elizabeth held onto James's arm as he helped her up to the grave. She leaned on him, for she was afraid that her own legs could not support her. Elizabeth tossed the rose into the grave. She tried to keep it together but she couldn't. She sobbed into her handkerchief as James helped her back to her seat. It was Rapunzel's turn. James held out his arm in an offer to walk her up to the grave, but she did not take it. She stared blankly right on through, as if she had a one track mind and that was all she could think about. James just watched her walk right passed him, as if he wasn't even there. Rapunzel walked up to her father's grave and stood there for an instant. She wanted to jump right in with him; to be buried away from the world again. Though she did not know her father for long, he was always kind to her. She loved him and he would be greatly missed. Rapunzel held out the red rose out in front of her. She held it there before releasing it staring at it. She released her hold on the stem and watched it drop all the way down. As she watched it drop it seemed as if time had slowed way down and she was watching the rose fall in slow motion until it gracefully hit the top of the casket. Then all at once, everyone started tossing in their roses in. She watched them all in the same manner. It seemed like her life was taking the same path as the roses. As if her life was spiraling down into a dark hole to be buried and never to be seen again.

* * *

It was dark, well past midnight. Doctor Menken had done his last check up on Eugene before he called it a night. The bandages were removed from his torso so the nurses could change them. Eugene still had not shown any sign of walking up. His heart beat was still very slow and his breathing was labored and shallow. Before Doctor Menken left, he took one last look at Eugene before he exited through the door. '_Please…please, God, help this boy_. He has so much to live for.' Doctor Menken said his silent prayer and started walking through the door. Just as he turned he heard a groan from the bed. He turned and looked to find Eugene stirring slightly. The nurses stood slightly stunned staring at one another and then to the doctor. Doctor Menken quickly shuffled to the side of Eugene's bed and took a seat. He looked over him.

"Eugene? Son, can you hear me?" Eugene's head shifted in the direction of his voice. His eyes flickered. Then, just as if someone flipped a switch, Eugene shot straight up and inhaled sharply. Doctor Menken was taken by surprise and out of pure reaction immediately shoved Eugene back down by his shoulders. Eugene started thrashing, trying to get up.

"Eugene, EUGENE! You have to relax!" But Eugene wasn't listening. "Sarah! I need you to sedate him, hurry!" One of the nurses rushed over to a cabinet and opened it. She got a small brown glass bottle and a rag. She poured the clear liquid onto the rag and brought it over to Eugene who was still struggling. Eugene clawed at Doctor Menken's hands who kept him down. Eugene's relentless thrashing only worked him into a severe coughing fit which made things worse. Nurse Sarah quickly put the damp cloth over Eugene's nose and mouth and held it there, but Eugene kept moving his head side to side to get it away. He tried to call out for Rapunzel, but his voice was almost completely gone and only came out a struggling whisper. The other nurse quickly jumped into action and held Eugene's head in place as Sarah held the cloth over his mouth and nose. It took a while but eventually Eugene started getting tired. His eyes slowly closed, no matter how hard he tried to fight it. Eventually his thrashing came to an end. They all three took a deep breath. Doctor Menken noticed blood.

"Damn it!" He put both of his hands on top of one another, and put pressure on Eugene's stomach immediately. "Go get my bag; he's broken his stitches."

All the while no one noticed the hooded figure that sat at a distance hiding in the shadows watching the scene play out before him.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

In the distance voices spoke in hushed tones. Only a few words could be understood.

"…waking up…"

"…fever…broken…infection…"

Suddenly, a foggy white light could be visible, and the voices seemed to get closer. They were more distinct, and it sounded like a man and a woman talking. Wait, that woman's voice sounds familiar. It sounded like…Rapunzel. Rapunzel?

"Rapun…." Eugene's voice was raspy, and he was still extremely weak.

"Shhh, Eugene, I'm right here sweetheart, I'm right here." She took a seat on the bed on his right side as she stoked his bangs up. They were slightly damp, partial from his fever breaking, and partially from the damp cloths that were used to try to keep his fever down. Eugene slowly tried to raise his hand up for Rapunzel's. She quickly grabbed it and pulled it up to her cheek. It felt warmer. Eugene slowly moved his fingers across her cheek and gave a weak smile. His eye lids fluttered a few times and his hand went limp again. Rapunzel started to panic.

"Eugene…Eugene!"

"It's all right, Princess, he is just resting. His body has gone through a lot in the past two and a half weeks he need a lot of rest. The good thing is he is getting stronger, his fever broke, his heartbeat is stronger, and his infection is almost gone. He just needs sleep." For the first time in weeks, Rapunzel gave a little smile. Eugene had kept his promise, he came back to her.

The rest of the week went by without a hitch. Each day Eugene woke up staying awake a little longer than the last. One time he was able to drink a little bit of broth. As the days went by Eugene grew stronger and stronger. He was able to breathe easier, his temperature was back to normal, and the color in his cheeks came back. Though he still had some pain in his stomach, and was not quite able to leave his bed, Eugene was on the road to full recovery.

* * *

Eugene sat as straight up as possible in bed while the doctor checked his vitals. He took in deep breaths and the doctor listened to his breathing.

"Well, young man, I am happy to say you are nearing the end of your recovery. I will say you did give us quite a scare there for a while." Eugene looked up at the doctor as he laid back on the mound of pillows. "Well the nurses tell me you are still in some pain so I am going to give you something for that." Doctor Menken pulled out a small sack and handed it to Rapunzel. "Mix some of this in some tea and have him drink it. It may have a funny taste to it, but after a little while the effects will kick in and he won't feel a thing." Rapunzel nodded and immediate left to prepare some hot water.

"Now as for you, young man," Doctor Menken pointed a stern finger at Eugene, "When I say stay in bed and not to use your arm, I mean…STAY PUT!" Eugene jerked his head back. His eyes widened slightly as the doctor scolded him. "If I hear of you gallivanting around the palace, nearly getting yourself killed, I will put you in a drug induced coma until you are no longer able to walk again! Do I make myself clear?"

Eugene gave a small two finger salute. "Yes sir."

A chuckle came from the door. Queen Elizabeth leaned up against the door frame with her arms crossed. "Don't worry, Doctor Menken, I will personally make sure he does not leave again."

"Elizabeth," Doctor Menken walked over to her as she walked into Eugene's room. He took ahold of her hands as he greeted her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing ok." She gave a small smile.

"Are you eating?"

"Yes." He gave her a suspicious look. "I'm eating…some."

"My lady, you need to keep your strength up I know it's hard, but I can't be in two places at once. That one over there is keeping me busy enough." They both looked to Eugene who gave a little wave.

"Ya know I can still hear you."

"Yes well it's good to know that knife didn't damage your tongue." The doctor stated

"Yes and it would have been a shame if it had." Elizabeth let go of Doctor Menken's hands as she walked towards Eugene. She sat next to him on the bed and stroked the side of his head lightly with her fingertips.

"How are you feeling dear?" Eugene shrugged.

"I'm alive." Elizabeth gave him a sympathetic smile. She looked down taking his hand in both of hers. There was clearly something on her mind that she wanted to say. She looked up again at him with tears in her eyes.

"Is there anything…anything you can tell me about that night? Who did this to you, and my husband?"

Eugene's heart dropped. How could he tell her that it was her husband that tried to kill him? That it was her husband that set up Rapunzel's kidnapping all those years ago. He just could bring himself to do it.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember anything." Elizabeth's eyes misted over. She nodded her hear and squeezed Eugene's hand.

Rapunzel came in with a tray with hot tea and a small cup. She set it on the night stand next to Eugene's bed. She poured him a small cup and handed it to him "Careful it's hot." He took the hot liquid and caught a whiff of it. He narrowed his eye's questioningly at his tea. Doctor Menken caught his look.

"Is there something wrong, Son."

"This smells familiar, but I don't know from where." Eugene took a sip. It had had an odd taste. It wasn't horrible, but not what he was expecting for tea. The other three looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Then, as if there weren't enough people in Eugene's room, the captain walked in.

"Ahhh. He lives!" Eugene's head shot up from his tea and looked at the captain. He gave a goofy smile and waved his hand franticly. James looked at him curiously and tilted his head at him. "And I guess enthusiastic." Eugene finished the rest of his tea. All of a sudden his eyes got wide. He put his hands out as if trying to hold onto something, like he was falling.

"Hey is it just me, or is the room spinning?" They all looked at Eugene.

"Sweetheart, are you ok?" Eugene slowly turned his head to face Rapunzel. He blinked a few times. Her head was…misshapen. Then he looked around the room, everyone's head looked weird. It looked like their heads where molded from clay and someone squished their clay heads in their hand. Eugene's eyes widened in slight fear.

"What is going on?" Everyone look to Doctor Menken. Doctor Menken walked over to the table with the tea on it poured himself a small cup and smelled it. It was quite strong. He looked to Rapunzel.

"Rapunzel, how much of that bag did you put in his tea?"

"Um…all of it"

"Oh Lord! Princess, I said put some of it in not all of it." He motioned Rapunzel and Elizabeth to get out of the way. He sat on the bed and got real close to Eugene's face. "Eugene, look at me." He put his two fingers to his own eyes to guide Eugene where to look. Eugene looked for a second and then got distracted again. He whistled for and pointed back to his own eyes again. "Over here." Eugene's eye looked bloodshot and dilated. Eugene then started to giggle. Then he snorted which caused him to laugh harder. They all looked at him like he had literally lost his mind. The doctor motioned everyone over to the door so he could talk with them in private.

"Doctor what's wrong with him?" There was concern in Elizabeth's voice.

"Well he, um," Doctor Menken wasn't quite sure how to explain Eugene's condition. "There are certain side effects to certain…herbal…remedies. I haven't quite seen it, but I have read that some of the side effect, which also includes dizziness, dry mouth, and…extreme hunger, are a bit odd. I believe with the amount that Rapunzel gave him we will be seeing some of those other side effects for a while."

"Did I hurt him?"

"No, Princess, you didn't. He should be fine. But we will just have to keep an eye on him. He is gonna be a bit…loopy for a while." They all four looked back at Eugene. He was staring at them, and had his thumb and forefinger really close to his left eye pressing them together as if he was trying to squish something. "Yeah…don't let him go anywhere."

"How long does this last?"

"I'm not sure, Captain. Using at a normal amount the effects of the herb last for a few hours, but this, expect it to last for a long time, maybe a day or two. He should come out of it though, the effects are not permanent. If he sleeps they might wear off faster." The doctor walked over to Eugene who was still trying to squish something.

"Eugene."

"I'm squishing your head."

"Yes that's nice." He gently pushed Eugene's hand down so he could talk to him.

"Hey Doc," His voice got real quiet. "What did you give me?"

"Just an herb."

"Yes I know that, but what is it called?" He looked at Eugene questioningly. He wasn't sure why Eugene was asking, or if he would understand the answer.

"It's called Cannabis Sativa. Why?" Eugene started to giggle again.

"That's awesome. I am sooooo hiiiigh right now." His voice went up in pitch slightly.

"You have had this before?"

"Uh, yeah." He answered as if the Doctor Menken should have known that. Eugene's face went form laid back smiling to all seriousness in an instant. "Can I get some more, for later I mean." He looked the doctor straight in the eye.

"NO! Look, just stay here. Don't move." He got up to head back to everyone else whom were all still standing by the door watching. "I'll have my nurses watching over him in shifts, but I think it would be best if we all pitch in and watch him. We all know what he is like and it will help us predict if he is going to try anything." They all nodded in agreement. "Rapunzel would you like to stay with him first" She was a bit hesitant. "It's ok, Rapunzel, I promise you didn't harm him in anyway. You are perfectly capable to watch him."

Her mother guided her to Eugene with a hand on Rapunzel's back.

"Now if you need anything, my nurses will be here. They can send for me if need be."

"Thank you, Doctor." Rapunzel sat on Eugene's bed next to him. He was staring blankly into space. She waited for everyone to leave.

"Hey sweetheart." Eugene slowly moved his head towards Rapunzel.

"Heeyy Baaaaby. Did you know that I …love…you?" He kissed her nose. Rapunzel smiled slightly.

"Yes, and I love you too." She took a minute to examine him. "I'm sorry I over drugged you." Eugene started to giggle again.

"Oh no, thank you." She narrowed her eyes at him in question.

"How do you feel?" Eugene thought hard for a while.

"You remember last year at the Christmas party, you got ahold of that wine, and you thought it was juice but it made you feel really funny?"

"Yes."

"Kinda like that, but less sloshy, and I won't wake up with a splitting head. I just feel like I am floating in the air right now."

"Well you're not in any pain right now are you?" Eugene looked at her almost concerned.

"I'm supposed to have pain?" Rapunzel looked at him surprised.

"You don't remember?" Eugene thought for a moment, then smiled as he came to the realization.

"Ooooh yeaaah. Nah this stuff really doesn't take away your pain it just… makes you forget you had any to begin with. And then you just don't care." Eugene slowly pushed himself farther to the left and patted the bed. "You should come here."

"I am here."

"No, you should come closer." He patted the bed next to him again.

"I don't think that is a very good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because, what if I hurt you? I already over dosed you."

"First of all, it's like impossible to over dose on this stuff. The worst that would happen is I become a vegetable for a little while, but the effects always wear off. Secondly you won't hurt me. It's not like we're gonna be jumping up and down on the bed. I mean…we could… do other things that make the bed move." Rapunzel lightly slapped his arm. "I'm just sayin'…ya know…just puttin' that out there"

"Well…what if someone sees? We could get into trouble."

"Well, the nurses are already here and they don't care. You were already given permission to watch over me…alone…for the most part, and what are they gonna do throw me out? They can't ground me, I'm already here. And you, they won't do anything to you. Come on, pleeeease?"

He gave here his winning pathetic look of the sad puppy dog eyes. She smiled at him and finally gave in. Rapunzel crawled under the blankets with him, but instead of Eugene holding her, Rapunzel scrunched down a little so Eugene could lie on her stomach. He wrapped his arms around her like she was his pillow. He nuzzled his head into her tummy and gave her a gentle squeeze before he let out a sigh of content. Rapunzel smiled. For once she could finally take care of him, and hold him. She wanted to be there for him when he needed her the most, and finally be his rock until he could stand on his own again. She kissed the top of his head and lightly brushed her fingertips through his hair. Little did she know, when someone rubs his head for a certain length of time, it puts Eugene out almost instantly. She told him that she loved him. When he didn't answer back she looked down to see him soundly sleeping. For the first time, it was a peaceful sleep, and there was even a slight smile as he dreamt.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next morning Eugene woke quite groggy and alone. He remembered Rapunzel being there with him when he fell asleep. He was slightly disappointed when he found himself in the giant bed all alone. He liked her being there, and honestly he liked being held for once. But his thoughts were interrupted with the door opening. His hopes were quickly dashed when he noticed it was the doctor…again.

"Oh it's just you." He sounded quite unenthusiastic.

"Well, that is a fine way to greet someone who has been working diligently on saving your life." Eugene rolled his eyes.

"Sorry."

"I know you were expecting the princess. She is sleeping at the moment. She has had a difficult couple of weeks and she needed some rest that was well over due."

Eugene felt guilty for the emotional pain and suffering he had put Rapunzel through. He could only imagine going through something like that. And she went through it twice.

"So, Eugene, how are you feeling today?"

"Hungry."

"Yes I can imagine so. I will send the nurse down for some broth." Eugene groaned quietly.

"Can't I have anything a little more…substantial?"

"Unfortunately, not right now. I don't want to give you anything that will upset your stomach. You have only been awake for a week and your body will not be used to the food intake. You might react negatively and your body might attack the foreign substance and make you sick. I can't have you infecting your wound again. However, I can start you off on some bread or crackers for now, but honestly that is about it." Eugene shrugged his shoulder. It was better than nothing.

"Now do you feel any pain?"

"Um… a little bit it's nothing horrible."

"I figured you still would, I will give you some more of that herb, but this time not so much." Eugene smiled and giggled again thinking about his experience the night before.

There was a knock at the door. Both Eugene and Doctor Menken turned their heads and saw it was Captain James.

"Oh well hello Captain James. How are you?"

"I'm doing well Doctor, how are you."

"Oh just fine. I am just finishing looking over my latest patient."

"Yeah, and how is the little shit doing?" Eugene flipped him off.

"My _patient_, is doing just fine, healing up very well. In fact in just a few weeks both his shoulder and abdomen should be well enough for him to be climbing and wreaking havoc on our kingdom once again."

"Ya know, I couldn't help but notice how nice and quiet everything actually was when you weren't around."

"Yeah, well if it weren't for me, you would die from obesity and boredom, because Lord knows you never get off your lazy ass to do anything."

Doctor Menken and James just looked at each other and shook their heads.

"It's nice to have ya back, Kid." He slapped Eugene on the arm. Eugene smiled.

"Well, I don't think my services are needed any longer. Captain, if you need me, please don't hesitate to call for me."

"Thank you doctor"

"So, what brings you here Top?"

"Well, what I want to talk to you about is the thrown." Eugene's brow narrowed. "Rider, I have been talking about it to the Queen and Rapunzel, and well, we all agree that you need to be the one to take it." Eugene was shocked.

"Wait…what!"

"I know it is a lot but we all think you are the best candidate."

"Why do you say that?"

"You knew the king, and you knew what he wanted to do with the kingdom."

"What about you, you knew him better than I did, hell you were his right hand man for the most part." James paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

"Well, actually, after a while he stopped coming to me, and that's when everything became so secretive. I thought I knew him, but now I am not so sure. Besides I don't belong on the thrown, my place is with my men, protecting this kingdom and its people."

"Well, how noble of you."

"I'm being serious Rider-"

"So I am." James stared at him for a moment. "Look I think it is very noble of you to not take it when you know you have the chance. You have a lot of power controlling the Coronian Army and then if you took over the thrown, image the things you could do with that power, both good and bad. So I commend for not taking that opportunity."

"Oh…well thank you."

"Not everything I say is sarcastic. But on that note, what about the queen, I take it she is stepping down?"

"Yes, she wants to retire. She has been through enough and she no longer wants the responsibility."

"Well what about Rapunzel? I mean it's supposed to be her that takes the crown anyways."

"Rapunzel is not even close to being ready yet, and she knows this."

"You would be surprised at what she is capable of."

"I am not talking about her ability. There are so many things that she has to learn yet and you know this. There is the uglier side of ruling a kingdom that she hasn't seen yet. That was supposed to come with time, but unfortunately…"

"I know." Eugene sat there for a moment letting everything sink in. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Yes you can."

"What makes you think so?"

"Rider," he paused to collect his thoughts. "When I was watching you train the troops, you taught them so much more than I ever thought anyone could teach in such a short amount of time. You know that medical training you set up came in handy."

"It did?"

"Yeah. I used it to save your life." Eugene was shocked and…a little proud.

"Oh."

"Yeah. And not to mention, the men, they actually look like soldiers. They looked up to you, and still do. You lead them. You didn't just teach them how to fight and defend our kingdom, you taught them about leadership." He paused. "You even taught me a thing or two. So when I tell you that you are ready to run this country, you can take that to the bank. I mean, you went from, being a thief, to rescuing the princess, to being in charge of training an entire military, and now to taking over the thrown."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Eugene put his hand up, "I never said I would."

"Rider, if you don't, then someone else from another kingdom has the chance to take over. Right now we are literally leaderless."

"Well who has been taking charge the last month?"

"I have, and quite honestly, I don't want the job! It sucks!"

"Oh great, so you throw it down to me, so I can have the shitty job." James shrugged his shoulders.

"It is what it is." Eugene groaned as he banged his head against the head board a few times.

"Well… can't I have some time to think about?"

"Sure, just so long as you make your decision by sundown." Eugene lifted his head.

"What do you mean, by sundown?

"Well, they want to induct you by tonight."

"WHAT! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

"Shhh…not so loud."

"No fuck that, I come out a damn near coma for weeks and you want me to immediately jump into this shit now?! Have you lost your fucking mind?!"

"Rider…don't hurt yourself."

"Oh fuck you."

"HEY! I have been busting my ass, keeping this kingdom running, keeping our military running-"

"A military that _I _busted_ my_ ass training by the way."

"-NOT TO MENTION, I saved your ass. If it weren't for me you would be six feet under by now. So it wouldn't hurt… to show… A LITTLE …APPRIECIATION!"

"Appreciation is saying 'thank you', appreciation is buying you a round, NOT TAKING OVER AN ENTIRE FUCKING KINGDOM!"

"Oh you are SO lucky you are hung up in that bed, because if you weren't I would hit you so FAR into next week you would have to wait for me to catch up to you to KICK YOUR ASS!"

"Oh can it old man you couldn't fight your way out of a bag!" James fist tightened.

"I SWEAR TO GOD RIDER!" He raised his right arm to throw a punch. Eugene put his right arm up ready to block and left arm raised slightly balling his fist up to throw one back.

"What?! What are you gonna do ol' man?!" James clenched his teeth his teeth.

Just then they both stopped arguing. They came to the same realization. The king was no longer there to stop them. Every time they fought and had an argument Daniel had always been there to smooth things over and calm everyone down. They stared at each other before lowering their arms.

"He's not coming back, is he?" James shook his head slowly. It had finally hit Eugene like a ton of bricks.

"No, no he's not, Kid." Eugene put his head in his hands. He still told no one about what actually happened that night. James had asked him several times before, but every time, he could not bring himself to telling the truth. Tears threaten their way through. Eugene blinked them back. He swallowed hard willing himself to get control of his emotions. James gripped his right shoulder and squeezed to comfort him.

"I know, Kid, it's been hard on all of us." Eugene took a good deep breath.

"Alright, I'll do it." Eugene felt that he owed it to Daniel. Daniel had looked to him to take care of his daughter, and part of that responsibility came with watching over the kingdom as well. Eugene had mauled that night in his head over and over again; playing back the events like a story book. Each time he thought about, he never truly believed that Daniel wanted to actually kill him.

"Good, I'll tell the council."

* * *

That night, everyone gathered in the throne room. It was a bit of an unorthodox of a ceremony, but because it was last minute due to the circumstances, it was forgiven. The council consisted of only four men, which was strange, but they were a small kingdom. Rapunzel stood up by the thrown along with the queen who held the king's crown on a royal blue, crushed velvet pillow. Eugene was escorted by Captain James who helped him walk up to the throne. Eugene was wore black pants with his black boots. He had on a royal blue dress coat that came up slightly around his neck with gold trimming. The buttons were gold, and he had gold shoulder tassels. There was a crimson red sash across his body with the gold sun emblem on it on his the upper left of his chest. He took a few extra shaky steps up to the queen. She looked at Eugene and smiled. He knelt down slowly on one knee and bowed his head. Queen Elizabeth placed the late King Daniels crown on top of his head and passed the pillow to Rapunzel. She took a saber given to her by Captain James and knighted him.

"I… Queen Elizabeth… dub thee… Eugene Fitzhebert… King of Corona. You may rise."

James held out his hand for Eugene to grab. He took a breath and as smoothly as possible stood up biting back a groan as he rose to his feet. He took one more, shaky step to the throne, turned, and sat down. Eugene was able to breathe better knowing he didn't have to move again for a while.

Eugene took a minute to take everything in. It was all moving so fast that he wasn't sure how to react. He looked at the crowd. Eugene took another deep breath. Then all at once they all bowed in respect for their new king. Eugene wasn't sure what to do. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that anyone would bow to him, let alone be taking over an entire country. He looked to the queen for guidance.

"Say something to them dear." She whispered to him. Eugene stared at them for a moment as they awaited his speech.

"You served our late King Daniel. You served him well,… as he did you. I only pray… that you will serve me… in the same manner. I know I am young,… and I am new,… but I promise you this,… I will give my all…to uphold…serve…and protect…the honor,…and the good name of this kingdom…that King Daniel, and our past leaders… have work endlessly…to place on this great kingdom we call Corona."

He looked back at the queen and she smiled in approval. The queen looked at the crowed who still was at a bow. She lifted her hand signaling they may come up. The crowd cheered in unison.

"LONG LIVE THE KING! LONG LIVE THE KING! LONG LIVE THE KING!"

As the crowd stood up, they mingled around. Some of them coming up to congratulate him, and pay their respects in person. Eugene looked at the council men who stood by each other in the crowd. As he peered through the hordes of people, he noticed something very odd. He did not recognize them. He should have recognized at least three of them. The three men that were with King Daniel the night of the party, where were they? Wasn't this an important event to be at; the crowning of the new King of Corona. Eugene made a mental note of the four men that were part of the council. They seemed relatively harmless, but that still didn't excuse the fact that they were here and the other three were not. Why wasn't the queen asking any of these questions? Did she not oversee anything that happened in their kingdom? Maybe she was just ready to step down and didn't really care anymore. But being the queen, one would think she would still have a sense of pride and duty in her own kingdom. Eventually the crowd died down, Elizabeth, Rapunzel, and James all turned to Eugene, who was still sitting on the throne. James held out his hand to help him up.

"Would you like to go back to your dear?" The queen asked.

"Oh…no…please don't move me right now. Just…just let me sit for a minute." Elizabeth gave Eugene a sympathetic smile. James just laughed at him.

Eugene looked at Rapunzel. She hadn't said a word this whole night. She was way too quiet. She wasn't doing anything. But that was it, she usually was doing something, not just standing there looking excluded from everyone all quiet like staring off in the distance. What was is going on with everyone? Eugene's head felt like it was going to explode with all these unanswered questions just bouncing around in his head. Maybe Rapunzel knew he was keeping something from her. He knew he eventually had to come clean with everything, but he wasn't sure how or when. Every time he had a chance to be alone with her he was either drugged, and he didn't want to tell her while he was inebriated, or there was someone watching, that wasn't very comfortable either.

"Well sweetheart," Elizabeth rubbed Eugene's arm on the rest, "I am going to make my way to bed. It has been a long day. Are you going to be alright?"

It had just registered that someone was speaking to him. "Huh, oh yeah I'll be fine."

"I'll take him back to his room."

"Thank you James." She took another look at Eugene who had his head resting in the palm of hand as he leaned his elbow on the arm rest. Eugene looked exhausted. Though he looked a considerable amount better than he had in the last few weeks, it was clear that he held the weight of the world on his shoulders. Elizabeth crouched down to get eye level with Eugene. She held his right hand rubbed her thumb on the back of it.

"Eugene," He moved his eyes towards her but still held his head, "I want you to know, that I am very, very proud of you, and I know that Daniel would be proud of you too." Eugene stared at the ground. He wanted to stop thinking about Daniel for once. If someone mentioned Daniel one more time, he was going to explode.

The Queen stood up hoping that what she said got through to him, but the thing was, it did get through to him. It was so far through him that whenever someone mentioned Daniel, it felt like he was getting stabbed all over again. He felt that if he did mention what actually happened, he would betray the king, and ruin his good name, ruin the good name he just swore to protect, however, if he didn't tell anyone he was just as crooked as Daniel was, and whoever he was forced to work with. (Or worked for, depending on how you look at it) He would essentially be betraying his people, the queen, James, and most importantly Rapunzel not matter what he did. It was a damned if he did damned if he didn't type deal.

On top of the pain he was already in, he felt sick to his stomach. It seemed like everything hurt, his shoulder was still sore, his head felt like someone was taking an ice pick to it, and his lower half was sore from not moving in nearly a month. Eugene literally wanted to crawl in a hole and hide.

"So… are we gonna sit her all night?" Eugene's head shot up. He looked over to his left and saw Captain James sitting on the floor resting his arms on his knees. Then he looked around a bit, everyone was gone. The Queen was gone, Rapunzel was gone, and he noticed the candles were burnt pretty low.

"What the hell happened to everyone?"

"They all left." Eugene looked confused. "You've been asleep for about," He pulled out his pocket watch, "an hour now."

Eugene groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You said you wanted to sit here for a minute."

"Yeah a minute, not an hour. Ugh, let's go."

"Good," James slowly stood up and stretched, "cause I can't feel my butt."

"I really…didn't need to know that." James helped Eugene stand up. Eugene took a sharp breath in as pain shot through him once again. He closed his eyes breathed deep until it went back down to a dull pain. Then he leaned on James's shoulder to help him walk. James placed a hand on his upper back to help stabilize him. It was silent for a bit. Then Eugene decided to break that silence.

"So…how ya been?" James looked a Eugene like was crazy. They both started to laugh. "Oh Lord, do you think we're gonna make it outta this alive?"

"Nah, probably not."

"Yeah that was my thought too."

"The kingdom is gonna completely collapse."

"Yeah, the apocalypse is gonna occur, the whole nine yards, ya know." They continued their pointless banter.

"Oh by the way, you said buying me a beer was a sign of appreciation. When do I get the beer?"

"As soon as I am allowed to have one myself."

"You mean I have to wait another whole month before I get my beer?"

"Yup."

"You know what… you're an asshole."

"What you think I am gong crawl my ass over to the tavern, buy you a beer, and watch you drink it while I sip on chicken broth? I might be crazy but I am not stupid."

"I hope you choke on that broth."

"Watch out, I can poison your beer." He winced immediately regretted his words. "Too soon?"

"Just a little."

"Yeah, I am kind of an asshole." They both laughed.

They finally made it to his room. There were armed guards at each of the royal's rooms. The two guards standing directly in front of Eugene's room stepped out of the way to let them in. James opened the door and helped walk Eugene to the side of the bed.

"Are you gonna be alright…ya know…getting out of all that?" Jamess gestured towards the clothes Eugene had on.

He looked up and smiled, "Yeah I think I can manage."

"Good, cause I wasn't gonna help ya anyways."

"I didn't want your help."

James walked to the door, but just before he left he turned. "Ya know Elizabeth isn't the only one proud of you." Eugene looked up at James. "I am real proud of you too, Eugene." He smile, but then it faded.

"Did you just call me-"

"Yeah I think I'm gonna stick with Rider."

"Yeah I agree." Eugene chuckled at him.

"Good night, Rider" Eugene smiled as he left.

"Night."

Eugene was about to lay back until he realized there was something heavy on top of his head. He reached his hand up and slipped the crown of his head. He stared at it, inspecting every engraving, every jewel. It was pretty ironic. He got into this whole mess by stealing a crown and, by chance, happened to find the lost princess of which whom the crown belonged to. Now he has his own crown, and is ruling an entire country. But looking back on it, it was all way too coincidental for it to be "by chance." He started to think the fates of time put him here for a reason. He was never one to believe in fate and destiny though. Eugene liked to think that he was in charge of his own life. He was responsible for every action that he made. But it seemed like in the past two years, he hasn't had a hand in really anything. It was all laid out for him and all he was doing was walking down the path that was presented to him. He had no choice but to go along with it.

Eugene put the crown on the night stand next to him. He started to slowly work his way out of his clothes and into his night clothes. He had his shirt off. He looked down at his bandaged midsection. His hand went to his stomach. He could still feel where the blade pierced through him. Not a minute went by when he didn't think about that night. How could he not, the proof was right there in front of him. He started having flashbacks and the pain started coming back. Eugene shut his eyes and he breathed deeply to try and calm himself. His hand started clutching his bandages, as the pain started to escalate. Then he remembered the tea that was still in his room from before. With a shaky hand he picked up the pot and poured himself a cup. He ended up spilling some onto the table from shaking so bad. He quickly through his head back to chugged it. It was cold, and tasted horrible. He nearly threw up from the taste. But he didn't care. He took another shot just for good measure. He waited a few minutes for the effects to kick in. He felt himself start to sink, or float he wasn't quite sure at the moment. He didn't care either way. He was just glad the pain was leaving his mind. Eugene started getting drowsy. He slowly kicked his legs on the bed and laid back. His eye slowly closed, and just like that darkness and peace consumed him.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The room was bustling with too many papers, and too many people. Eugene sat up against his mountain of pillows with his knees up looking over King Daniel's last will, some bills he needed to go over, and various pieces of paper that he had no idea what to do with. James sat by his side trying to organize everything into piles. The flow of paper never seemed to end. Eugene was getting frustrated. The four councilmen where in his room whom all thought that what each of them had to say to Eugene was more important, nurses, guards and cooks constantly walked in and out, and to top it all off, Doctor Menken decided to show up.

"How is my favorite patient?" Eugene rolled his eyes in frustration.

"Ugh…Christ. Doc, seriously this is not the time."

"Eugene I need to check your wound and change your bandages."

"Really?! Right now?! Is it so imperative that you have to do it right this second?!" Doctor Menken raised an eyebrow. Eugene was seconds away from snapping. "Ugh, you know what, everybody out. Everybody just get out!" The room froze in its place, eyes fixed on Eugene. James slowly rose out of his seat to leave but Eugene quickly grabbed his arm. "Not you!" He slowly sat back down.

Doctor Menken looked over to James who looked back and cautiously shook his head at him. James motioned the doctor towards the door. Doctor Menken was the first to move and everyone else followed in his footsteps. James waited until the door was shut to start speaking.

"It's gonna be ok, Kid." Eugene had his head in a pillow

"No, I can't take it anymore, I have to tell someone."

"Rider it's only the first day- wait, tell someone what?" Eugene paused for a minute before speaking.

"About that night." He looked up and James.

"But, you said-."

"I lied." James gave him a stern look. "Don't give me that look if you were in my situation you would do the same thing." James expression changed to concern. "That night, I know who stabbed me." James continued to listen. "It was Daniel." A look of shock and horror came over James's face.

"What?" The question was barely over a whisper.

"I know…it sounds crazy…but it's true. I have had the hardest time trying to tell anyone. But I don't think he wanted to do it, I think his hand was forced to."

"What do you mean?"

"When he…did it…he," Eugene was having a hard time trying to find the words, "he kept telling me he was sorry over and over again." His speech suddenly started to speed up nervously. "The last time someone shoved a knife into me, there was absolutely no remorse. I was walked over like I was already dead, so I know he didn't want to kill me. Not to mention if someone was trying to kill you by knife, they would rip it out of you and leave you there to bleed to death. Daniel left the knife in me-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa slow down, time out. So you are telling me, he attempted to kill you and then someone turns around to kill him immediately" Eugene blinked at him.

"…Essentially…yes."

"That does not make a lick of sense."

"You're preaching to the choir, my friend, I have been struggling with this for a while."

"Why would he want to kill you in the first place." Eugene placed a finger up.

"First of all, I didn't say he wanted to, I said he was forced, secondly, I am assuming it was for what I found out that night." James looked confused for a moment, and then it dawned on him.

"That book, you got into it didn't you." Eugene nodded his head slowly. "Well what did it say, what did you find out?"

"Nothing good." James anxiously shook his hands at Eugene urging him to continue. "I don't think you really want to hear the rest." Now it was James turn to get frustrated. "Well, Daniel is the one who set up Rapunzel's kidnapping." James was shocked.

"Why?"

"To save Elizabeth's life."

"When she got sick while she was pregnant."

"Exactly."

"What else did you find out?"

"Well not much, other than the fact that he was mixed in with a whole world of shit with some people he shouldn't have been with."

"Who?" Eugene put his face back into his pillow and groaned.

"Oh that is whole other…ahh…I don't even know where to begin to explain to you that whole mess." James didn't know what to say. Eugene started whining into his pillow.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright." James patted him on the back. Eugene came back up.

"You know what he said to me?" James shook his head. "He said that he had spent the better part of twenty years beating himself up over the fact that he could not protect his daughter, and now that he has her back he just wanted to enjoy what time he has left with her."

"Hey! This isn't your fault if that is what you are getting at."

"Yeah but if I had just listened-"

"No. Buts. About it. You were only doing what you thought was right. Besides, it sounds to me like there is more to this than just this twenty year old kidnapping, and if so, you are probably doing this kingdom a favor. This is like war, Kid, sometimes you have to sacrifice a lot just to save something that you believe in. The way I see it, you and the King have sacrificed a lot."

"I feel like I just made everything worse."

"I know. It seems like that right now, but in the end, it will work itself out."

Eugene took in a deep breath, and let it out slow. "Look you just have to give me your word you won't say a word of this to anyone…AN-Y-ONE."

"Ok, ok. You have my word."

A knock suddenly came to the door, it was a frantic knock.

"It's open!" Conli came rushing in.

"Your Majesty, we um..have…an issue." Eugene waited to hear. When he didn't continue he impatiently shook his head.

"What?! What was it?"

Conli stammered. "Well, Sire, there is…um…"

"Spit it out already."

"We have a man, a mysterious man out front. He wishes to see you directly." Eugene's brow narrowed. 'Mysterious man?' He thought for a minute, then, as if a light came on in his head he asked,

"What does he look like?"

"Sire?" That's an odd question. He even received an odd look from James.

"What. Does. He. Look. Like?" Conli thought for a minute.

"Well it's hard to tell, he has a hood covering most of his face…but he does have gray facial hair." Eugene smiled.

"Send him up." Conli hesitated. "Go, now." Conli ran out of the room. Eugene turned to look at James who was still looking at him funny. "What?"

Moments later, Conli showed back up with a man, a hooded man. He walked into the room.

"It's ok, Conli you can leave." Conli hesitated once more. "It's ok go." Eugene shooed him with his hand. The hooded man walked closer to Eugene and James. James was getting whip lash looking back and forth between him and this 'mysterious hooded man'. Eugene only continued to stare at the hooded man and smile.

"Well, it's been a long time…Dad."

The End

* * *

AN: Well that's the end. Hope you enjoyed it.

I'm kidding that's not the end, what are you nuts? If you haven't figured it out there is going to be a sequel. I know you must have a lot of questions. But fret not; I will tie up everything in the second part. I promise. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. This has taken me a very long time to write and a lot of courage to even start it. I am shaking so bad right now due to an entire thermos of coffee, no sleep, and excitement and nervousness all at the same time. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy lives to read this. Reviews are always appreciated. I do not currently have a set time when the next one will be out, but I am working diligently to making sure it is the quality of my best ability, so please forgive me if it takes a while. The next one will be named Truth Be Told. I know how frustrating it is when you get into a good story and it is not finish and you wait patiently, but day after day the update never seems to come. Before you know it a year has gone by and still no update. Then you sadly have to take it out of your follows list along with many others that have taken the same gravely path of unfinished stories. But you have my word, this story will be finished. Hold me to it!

For those of you who are more Rapunzel fans, I am sorry there wasn't much of her, but I will tell you this, I will write more of Rapunzel in the second part, and she is gonna be pretty bad ass too so there is that to look forward to. I am sorry, I am a huge Eugene/Flynn fan. Don't get me wrong I love Rapunzel, but…ya know…he's Flynn, come on, hahaha.

Also if you find grammar mistakes (which, I am sure you will) I apologize. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I reread my story I still never seem to find them all. Still to this day I am finding more and more mistakes in my last two stories, and for that I am sorry. Thank you again for reading this.

UPDATE! I am currently on chapter 9 in the next story. For those of you who want to wait patiently and read part two of this story, I will put an update on this story and let y'all know that it is out. That way you don't have to keep checking my profile page. I don't like to post stories until they are finished. Also I am currently working on another Tangled story, another multi-chapter. It will be called "What once was lost, should stay lost" So keep an eye out for that. For those of you who are following/favorite me and or my stories, and posting reviews, thank you thank you thank you. It means so much to me. I will admit I was really nervous posting this story. But it got a better turn out than I thought, so thank you for that.


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